Grotheer Comes from Behind in Yanqing Victory

From Yanqing, CHN

(November 17, 2023) – The men’s skeleton 2023/2024 IBSF World Cup season kicked off in Yanqing, and much like the last full field race held there it was Germany’s Christopher Grotheer atop the podium.

Unlike the 2022 Olympic Games where he won gold, Grotheer did not hold the lead after the first run of the day. That honor belonged to China’s Wengang Yan, who had won bronze in the Olympics and came in as one of the favorites for gold. Teammate Wenhao Chen also found himself in the mix, third after the first heat.

On the second run Chen held onto his spot, taking the lead from South Korea’s Seunggi Jung. Up next was the Olympic champion Grotheer. While he was unable to match his track record set during the Olympics, Grotheer was able to set the fast downtime of the race to take the lead with only Yan to go.

Yan’s second run began like his first with a big start, but that’s where the similarities ended. Early in the run it was clear Yan was just a tick off, with small wall taps out of the first few curves. Those compounded over the course of the run, and out of the Kreisel he only had the seventh best speed. As he crossed the line, Yan found himself in third, .05 behind teammate Chen and .48 behind Grotheer.

Grotheer’s gold was his fifth in World Cup competition, while Chen’s silver was a career best. Wengang Yan’s bronze was also a career best in World Cup competition, matching his Olympic Games effort.

Jung’s two starts were the quickest of the competition on his way to a fourth place finish, up from fifth in the first heat, while China’s Zheng Yin threw down a big second run to move up from ninth to fifth. Ukraine’s Vladyslav Heraskevych tied a career best finish with a sixth place finish, tying his effort in Sigulda during the 2021/2022 season.

Great Britain struggled to match the efforts they’d hoped for, but still managed to place three athletes in the top ten. Marcus Wyatt led the effort with the seventh quickest run in each heat on his way to a seventh place effort. Craig Thompson moved up from tenth to ninth, but at the expense of teammate Matt Weston.

Weston, the 2023 world champion, entered the second heat in fourth place. His second run was almost over before it began, as he got too much height out of Curve 2, hit the wall hard out of the exit and eventually fell to tenth.

Jacob Salisbury, the fourth British slider in the field, finished 12th, one spot ahead of World Championships silver medalist Amedeo Bagnis.

Spain’s Adrian Rodriguez, Ghana’s Akwasi Frimpong, and Taiwan’s Chun-Hung Chiang all made their skeleton World Cup debuts in the race, finishing 18th through 20th, respectively. Frimpong did have one prior start for Belgium a decade ago in four-man bobsled, where he finished 21st in Park City pushing Ivo de Bruin’s sled.

The United States opted to not send their athletes to Yanqing, instead racing on home ice in the opening round of the North American Cup. They will join the World Cup tour at its second stop in La Plagne.

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