From Lake Placid, USA
(March 6, 2025) – In what feels like a carbon copy of the 2023 World Championships in St. Moritz, Matt Weston once again holds a huge lead over the field after two runs in Lake Placid.
Weston, the World Cup overall champion, was the first off the top in the first heat and opened up a .44 second advantage over teammate Marcus Wyatt and Germany’s Axel Jungk. Behind them, reigning world and Olympic champion Christopher Grotheer sat in fourth, only a hundredth ahead of China’s Wenhao Chen in fifth.
Chen struggled a bit in his second run and gave way to teammate Zheng Yin, who had a difficult first run but rallied to move up from ninth to fifth. The Chinese duo was then upended by Grotheer, who found his rhythm in and set the second quickest time of the second heat to take the lead.
Jungk was next and out-started Grotheer. But from there Jungk’s second run was a little bumpy and a little off the pace, and while it kept him ahead of his teammate, the duo finished the heat separated by just .02.
Of the medal contenders, Wyatt was the penultimate slider of the second heat and found an extra .03 in his first start. On a slowing track, Wyatt was able to put some distance between himself and Jungk, opening up .12 between the two.
It was then Weston’s turn for a second run. His second effort was once again the fastest of the heat, .45 faster than Wyatt’s second slide and enough to open up a yawning .89 lead over Wyatt, with Jungk 1.01 back in third.
Though there were a lot of similarities to the results after two runs for Weston, that’s where his St. Moritz and Lake Placid experiences end.
“This track doesn’t suit me as well,” Weston said after his second run. ” I’ve had to work really hard in training and prepping myself for racing today. I’ve managed to grasp the track well in training, physically I’m in good shape right now and it’s all coming together and I’m trying to stay as relaxed as possible.”
American Austin Florian had the quick start in both heats, and his second slide was enough to move him up from tenth to seventh overnight. Teammate Daniel Barefoot sits 14th, a few spots ahead of Laurence Bostock in 17th.
Australia’s Nick Timmings sits 19th, with Jonathan Yaw of Malaysia in 29th after popping the groove in the second heat.
Results After Two Runs
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | WC Rank | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
| 1 | Matt Weston | GBR | 1 | 1 | 4.75 | 4.73 | 53.83 | 55.19 | 1:49.02 |
| 2 | Marcus Wyatt | GBR | 3 | 2 | 4.83 | 4.80 | 54.27 | 55.64 | 1:49.91 |
| 3 | Axel Jungk | GER | 5 | 5 | 4.88 | 4.86 | 54.27 | 55.76 | 1:50.03 |
| 4 | Christopher Grotheer | GER | 2 | 3 | 4.94 | 4.92 | 54.44 | 55.61 | 1:50.05 |
| 5 | Zheng Yin | CHN | 7 | 9 | 4.81 | 4.86 | 54.71 | 55.69 | 1:50.40 |
| 6 | Wenhao Chen | CHN | 6 | 8 | 4.82 | 4.80 | 54.45 | 55.99 | 1:50.44 |
| 7 | Austin Florian | USA | 12 | 13 | 4.74 | 4.70 | 54.72 | 55.77 | 1:50.49 |
| 8 | Vladyslav Heraskevych | UKR | 8 | 7 | 4.95 | 5.94 | 54.59 | 55.91 | 1:50.50 |
| 9 | Jisoo Kim | KOR | 15 | 16 | 4.82 | 4.76 | 54.69 | 56.05 | 1:50.74 |
| 10 | Qinwei Lin | CHN | 10 | 10 | 4.74 | 4.76 | 54.93 | 55.82 | 1:50.75 |
| 11 | Amdedeo Bagnis | ITA | 14 | 15 | 4.78 | 4.76 | 54.59 | 56.32 | 1:50.91 |
| 12 | Alexander Schlintner | AUT | 17 | 23 | 4.96 | 4.92 | 54.92 | 56.00 | 1:50.92 |
| 13 | Felix Keixinger | GER | 9 | 6 | 4.85 | 4.83 | 55.16 | 56.03 | 1:51.19 |
| 14 | Daniel Barefoot | USA | 19 | 22 | 5.03 | 4.89 | 55.19 | 56.19 | 1:51.38 |
| 15 | Mattia Gaspari | ITA | 13 | 14 | 5.00 | 5.05 | 55.34 | 56.15 | 1:51.49 |
| 15 | Vinzenz Buff | SUI | 18 | 18 | 5.13 | 5.13 | 55.45 | 56.04 | 1:51.49 |
| 17 | Laurence Bostock | GBR | 16 | 30 | 4.84 | 4.87 | 55.20 | 56.38 | 1:51.58 |
| 18 | Rasmus Johansen | DEN | 11 | 11 | 4.89 | 4.94 | 55.64 | 56.06 | 1:51.70 |
| 19 | Samuel Maier | AUT | 4 | 4 | 4.95 | 4.95 | 55.33 | 56.51 | 1:51.84 |
| 20 | Nicholas Timmings | AUS | 20 | 25 | 5.06 | 5.05 | 55.44 | 56.40 | 1:51.84 |
| 21 | Yaroslav Lavreniuk | UKR | 22 | 27 | 5.03 | 4.99 | 55.64 | 56.36 | 1:52.00 |
| 22 | Adrian Rodriguez | ESP | 26 | 32 | 4.96 | 4.99 | 55.88 | 56.23 | 1:52.11 |
| 23 | Colin Freeling | BEL | 25 | 26 | 5.13 | 5.12 | 55.71 | 56.46 | 1:52.17 |
| 24 | Jared Firestone | ISR | 23 | 40 | 5.07 | 5.03 | 55.94 | 56.33 | 1:52.27 |
| 25 | Seunggi Jung | KOR | 29 | 42 | 5.04 | 5.15 | 55.44 | 56.88 | 1:52.32 |
| 26 | Livio Summermatter | SUI | 21 | 24 | 4.90 | 4.91 | 56.09 | 57.40 | 1:53.49 |
| 27 | Timon Drahonovsky | CZE | 27 | 34 | 5.15 | 5.18 | 56.85 | 57.01 | 1:53.86 |
| 28 | Akwasi Frimpong | GHA | 28 | 44 | 4.98 | 4.91 | 56.19 | 57.97 | 1:54.16 |
| 29 | Jonathan Yaw | MAS | 24 | 38 | 5.06 | 5.39 | 56.36 | 58.63 | 1:54.99 |