From Lillehammer, NOR
(Nov. 11, 2017) Craig Thompson dominated the 2017/2018 European men’s skeleton opener on the way to his first ever IBSF gold medal.
Thompson had both the fast start and the fast downtime in both heats on his way to a .36 of a second win over Latvia’s Krists Netlaus.
Thompson’s previous best finish was a third place finish in North American Cup action in March of 2016.
Latvia’s Netlaus came into the second heat in third, but out-slid Austria’s Samuel Maier for silver, with Maier taking bronze.
Konstantin Khoroshko of Russia moved up from sixth to fourth in his second run, while teammate Artem Drozdo finished just behind him in fifth. Austria’s Alexander Schlintner finished sixth.
It was a good day for the two Americans in the field, with Stephen Garbett moving up from 12th to seventh in his second run on the strength of a fifth-fastest second run. Teammate Alex Ivanov finished one spot behind him in eighth.
Great Britain’s Stefan Squire came into the second run in the bronze medal position, but struggled mightily on his second run, dropping him from third to tenth.
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
| 1 | Craig Thompson | GBR | 4.69 | 4.67 | 53.18 | 52.94 | 1:46.12 |
| 2 | Krists Netlaus | LAT | 4.91 | 4.89 | 53.56 | 53.01 | 1:46.48 |
| 3 | Samuel Maier | AUT | 5.02 | 4.99 | 53.36 | 53.21 | 1:46.57 |
| 4 | Konstantin Khoroshko | RUS | 4.94 | 4.89 | 53.66 | 53.32 | 1:46.98 |
| 5 | Artem Drozdov | RUS | 4.89 | 4.85 | 53.62 | 53.62 | 1:47.24 |
| 6 | Alexander Schlinter | AUT | 4.96 | 4.91 | 53.80 | 53.62 | 1:47.42 |
| 7 | Stephen Garbett | USA | 4.94 | 4.95 | 54.00 | 53.61 | 1:47.61 |
| 8 | Alex Ivanov | USA | 4.86 | 4.87 | 53.91 | 53.72 | 1:47.63 |
| 9 | Rasmus Ottosson | SWE | 5.36 | 5.33 | 54.05 | 53.64 | 1:47.69 |
| 10 | Stefan Squire | GBR | 4.92 | 4.91 | 53.46 | 54.29 | 1.47.75 |
| 11 | Basil Sieber | SUI | 5.10 | 5.11 | 53.94 | 53.93 | 1:47.87 |
| 12 | Alexander Hestengen | NOR | 5.07 | 5.09 | 53.99 | 53.94 | 1:47.93 |
| 13 | Alisher Mamedov | RUS | 5.01 | 4.98 | 54.05 | 53.95 | 1:48.00 |
| 14 | Michal Jakobczyk | POL | 4.90 | 4.88 | 53.81 | 54.20 | 1:48.01 |
| 15 | Linus Ottosson | SWE | 5.18 | 5.17 | 54.18 | 54.42 | 1:48.60 |
| 16 | Mihail Enache | ROU | 5.01 | 5.04 | 54.88 | 54.34 | 1:49.22 |
| 16 | Mihai Pacioianu | ROU | 4.98 | 4.93 | 54.93 | 54.29 | 1:49.22 |
| 18 | Hakon Scheie | NOR | 5.41 | 5.41 | 54.77 | 54.67 | 1:49.44 |
| 19 | Maximilian Goldmann | SUI | 5.27 | 5.32 | 54.93 | 54.77 | 1:49.70 |
| 20 | Vladyslav Polyvach | POL | 5.14 | 5.13 | 55.49 | 54.92 | 1:50.41 |
| 21 | Nathan Jackson | AUS | 5.41 | 55.67 | |||
| 22 | Ludvig Sahlin | SWE | 5.20 | 55.76 | |||
| 23 | Carl Adlers | SWE | 5.24 | 55.88 | |||
| 24 | Denis Lorenčič | SLO | 5.21 | 55.97 | |||
| 25 | Samuel Dobler | SUI | 5.32 | 56.14 |
