Wyatt Wins 1st ICC Race of the Season

From Sochi, RUS

Nov. 24, 2019 – A day after being edged out for gold by Christopher Grotheer, Marcus Wyatt came back strong to win his first gold of the 2019/2020 season.

Wyatt was his typical self at the top of the track, setting the fast push of the competition in the second heat on his way to a .4 second win over Grotheer to win his second career Intercontinental Cup gold (Igls in November of 2018 being the other). The win also extends the British slider’s streak of ten top six finishes dating back to January of 2017.

Grotheer came into the second heat in fourth place, just .04 behind Konstantin Khorshko and Daniil Romanov, both sliding on their home ice in Russia. Grotheer was just a hair better on his second run, and it was enough to put him ahead of the Russian duo for silver.

Khoroshko finished with the bronze medal, just .04 behind Grotheer, while Romanov settled for fourth.

Egor Veselov finished fifth to put all three Russian sleds in the top six, while Fabian Küchler and Great Britain’s Jerry Rice tied for sixth.

Dave Greszczyszyn scored another top ten with a tenth place finish in Sochi, while teammates Blake Enzie and Mark Lynch both finished in the top 20 with 18th and 19th place finishes, respectively.

Mike Rogals led the way for the United States in 15th, while teammate Stephan Garbett finished two spots behind him in 17th.

The IBSF Intercontinental Cup moves on to Germany for the rest of the year, with single-race stops in Winterberg and Königssee in December before moving to Lake Placid in January. The tour will finish its season on the 2018 Olympic track in Pyeongchang.

Results:

Pos Names Nation Bib Start 1 Start 2 Run 1 Run 2 Total
1 Marcus Wyatt GBR 8 4.62 4.57 55.76 55.81 1:51.57
2 Christopher Grotheer GER 7 4.68 4.69 55.90 56.07 1:51.97
3 Konstantin Khoroshko RUS 11 4.77 4.78 55.86 56.15 1:52.01
4 Daniil Romanov RUS 6 4.65 4.64 55.86 56.45 1:52.31
5 Egor Veselov RUS 12 4.87 4.85 56.17 56.22 1:52.39
6 Fabian Küchler GER 5 4.58 4.60 56.31 56.65 1:52.96
6 Jerry Rice GBR 13 4.69 4.66 56.34 56.62 1:52.96
8 Kilian von Schleinitz GER 4 4.73 4.74 56.51 56.55 1:53.06
9 Wenhao Chen CHN 10 4.73 4.72 56.33 56.84 1:53.17
10 David Creszczyszyn CAN 9 4.86 5.83 56.58 56.95 1:53.53
11 Manuel Schwärzer ITA 19 4.80 4.81 56.99 57.06 1:54.05
12 Samuel Keiser SUI 15 5.86 5.85 57.13 56.95 1:54.08
13 Lucas Defayet FRA 14 4.86 4.86 57.13 57.20 1:54.33
14 Basil Sieber SUI 16 4.92 4.93 57.28 57.17 1:54.45
15 Mike Rogals USA 18 4.96 5.92 57.56 57.38 1:54.94
16 Mihai Pacioianu ROU 1 4.76 5.72 57.48 57.38 1:55.05
17 Stephen Garbett USA 20 4.94 4.86 57.66 67.41 1:55.07
18 Blake Enzie CAN 21 4.84 4.80 57.78 57.41 1:55.19
19 Mark Lynch CAN 17 4.91 4.88 58.09 58.04 1:56.13
20 Akwasi Frimpong GHA 22 4.86 4.85 58.18 58.56 1:56.74
21 Jeff Bauer LUX 23 5.03 58.35
22 Marin Bangiev BUL 2 5.30 59.83
23 Joe Della Santina NZL 3 5.61 60.52