From Lillehammer, NOR
(November 27, 2025) – Wengang Yan beat out Felix Seibel in a massive field in Lillehammer to open up the 2025/2026 Europe Cup skeleton season.
Yan was the first slider off in the first heat and put down what would be the quick run of the race with a 51.52. Seibel was next, and was just .01 off of the pace set by the 2022 Olympic bronze medalist.
Behind the duo, Latvia’s Emils Indriksons, Germany’s Stefan Röttig, Latvia’s Davis Valdovskis and Italy’s Pietro Drovanti rounded out the top six, all within a quarter of a second of Yan and Seibel.
In the second heat Indriksons edged out Röttig to slide into medal position with the two leaders still go to.
Seibel, the reigning Europe Cup men’s skeleton champion, was out-slid by the Latvian in the second run but had enough time in the bank to hold his position by .04.
With a field of 45 athletes, it was well over an hour before Yan got to take his second and final run. He picked up .04 off the top, and was over a tenth quicker than anyone else on his way to his fourth Europe Cup gold medal.
Seibel took silver and Indriksons bronze, the first of his career.
Röttig, Drovanti, and Ludwig Mannhardt rounded out the top six.
The United States’ Andy Whittier finished eighth as the top American, with Hunter Williams 15th and Bradley Nicol back from injury in 18th. Darryl Payne Jr was 22nd on the final American sled.
Craig Thompson led the way for Great Britain in 11th place, .05 ahead of teammate Laurence Bostock in 12th. Matthew Alvarez helped put three British sleds in the top 20 in 16th place.
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Finish |
| 1 | Wengang Yan | CHN | 1 | 4.78 | 4.74 | 51.52 | 51.61 | 1:43.13 |
| 2 | Felix Seibel | GER | 2 | 5.02 | 4.95 | 51.53 | 51.77 | 1:43.30 |
| 3 | Emils Indriksons | LAT | 11 | 4.77 | 4.77 | 51.61 | 51.73 | 1:43.34 |
| 4 | Stefan Röttig | GER | 5 | 4.72 | 4.72 | 51.72 | 51.79 | 1:43.51 |
| 5 | Pietro Drovanti | ITA | 12 | 4.80 | 4.76 | 51.76 | 51.86 | 1:43.62 |
| 6 | Ludwig Mannhardt | GER | 6 | 4.88 | 4.90 | 51.79 | 51.85 | 1:43.64 |
| 7 | Davis Valdovskis | LAT | 7 | 4.84 | 4.88 | 51.72 | 51.98 | 1:43.70 |
| 8 | Andy Whittier | USA | 8 | 4.77 | 4.73 | 52.04 | 52.02 | 1:44.06 |
| 9 | Roman Tanzer | AUT | 20 | 4.86 | 4.82 | 52.03 | 52.04 | 1:44.07 |
| 10 | Moritz Menning | GER | 31 | 5.04 | 5.01 | 51.99 | 52.10 | 1:44.09 |
| 11 | Craig Thompson | GBR | 3 | 4.84 | 4.80 | 52.03 | 52.21 | 1:44.24 |
| 12 | Laurence Bostock | GBR | 4 | 4.78 | 4.80 | 51.91 | 52.38 | 1:44.29 |
| 12 | Timm Beiwinkler | GER | 13 | 4.85 | 4.89 | 52.09 | 52.20 | 1:44.29 |
| 14 | Guoqing Yu | CHN | 9 | 4.76 | 4.77 | 52.32 | 52.12 | 1:44.44 |
| 15 | Hunter Williams | USA | 18 | 4.84 | 4.83 | 52.20 | 52.27 | 1:44.47 |
| 16 | Matthew Alvarez | GBR | 15 | 4.81 | 4.74 | 52.44 | 52.13 | 1:44.57 |
| 17 | Wenlong Zhang | CHN | 40 | 4.78 | 4.75 | 52.34 | 52.26 | 1:44.60 |
| 18 | Manuel Schwaerzer | ITA | 16 | 4.94 | 4.92 | 52.36 | 52.53 | 1:44.89 |
| 18 | Bradley Nicol | USA | 19 | 4.82 | 4.85 | 52.40 | 52.49 | 1:44.89 |
| 20 | Livio Summermatter | SUI | 10 | 4.74 | 4.74 | 52.64 | 52.34 | 1:44.98 |
| 21 | Ruojun Zheng | CHN | 14 | 4.73 | 4.75 | 52.38 | 52.64 | 1:45.02 |
| 22 | Darryl Payne Jr | USA | 24 | 4.77 | 4.83 | 52.48 | 52.67 | 1:45.15 |
| 23 | Vladyslav Klymenko | UKR | 25 | 4.89 | 4.91 | 52.54 | 52.67 | 1:45.21 |
| 24 | Vladyslav Polyvach | POL | 17 | 5.08 | 5.03 | 52.67 | 52.59 | 1:45.26 |
| 25 | Theodor Liviu Buligescu | ROU | 26 | 4.78 | 4.80 | 52.61 | 52.70 | 1:45.31 |
| 26 | Timon Drahonovsky | CZE | 22 | 4.94 | 52.70 | |||
| 27 | Andrea Monti | ITA | 29 | 4.83 | 52.74 | |||
| 28 | Emil Schäfer | GER | 42 | 5.01 | 52.75 | |||
| 29 | Lorenzo Conti | ITA | 23 | 4.86 | 52.82 | |||
| 30 | Krists Turauskis | LAT | 28 | 4.97 | 52.88 | |||
| 31 | Anton Bergström | SWE | 33 | 5.07 | 52.95 | |||
| 32 | Renars Jumikis | LAT | 21 | 4.92 | 53.14 | |||
| 33 | Luca Ungureanu | ROU | 34 | 5.11 | 53.39 | |||
| 34 | Maxime Mingeon | FRA | 27 | 4.96 | 53.41 | |||
| 35 | Leonid Tkachuk | UKR | 35 | 5.15 | 53.48 | |||
| 36 | Sven Reich | SUI | 37 | 5.26 | 53.53 | |||
| 37 | Sander De haan | NED | 30 | 4.92 | 53.67 | |||
| 38 | Lazar Mikic | SRB | 32 | 5.08 | 54.06 | |||
| 39 | Anton Kovalchuk | UKR | 36 | 5.29 | 54.25 | |||
| 40 | Matiss Andžans | LAT | 44 | 5.28 | 54.37 | |||
| 41 | Maksym Churylovych | UKR | 38 | 5.31 | 54.67 | |||
| 42 | Roze Karlis | LAT | 43 | 5.25 | 55.19 | |||
| 43 | Adam Belský | CZE | 41 | 5.04 | 55.58 | |||
| 44 | Mihajlo Cvjeticanin | SRB | 45 | 4.98 | 57.79 | |||
| 45 | Urdhwa Golwalker | IND | 39 | 6.40 | 62.28 |