From Sigulda, LAT
Jan. 18, 2020 – Krists Netlaus came onto the European Cup scene strong, winning gold medals here and there over his first season and a half. After that, though, he’s been in a bit of a slump. While medals have come his way, he’s not been able to find his way to the top.
The cure for that, apparently, was some home track racing.
Netlaus edged Russian Vladislav Semenov in the first heat by just .01, turning the second heat into essentially a one-heat race. On that second heat Netuals set a nearly identical time to his first run while Semenov could only come within a tenth of his time, giving the Latvian the gold.
Semenov finished second, well ahead of Latvia’s Martins Muiznieks in third. Muiznieks’ bronze medal was his first career European Cup medal.
Austria’s Alexander Schlintner finished fourth, ahead of German teammates Felix Seibel and Stefan Röttig in fifth and sixth, respectively.
The United States’ Austin McCrary finished 14th.
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
| 1 | Krists Netlaus | LAT | 6 | 4.69 | 4.66 | 50.96 | 50.95 | 1:41.91 |
| 2 | Vladislav Semenov | RUS | 11 | 4.65 | 4.67 | 50.97 | 51.07 | 1:42.04 |
| 3 | Martins Muiznieks | LAT | 2 | 4.67 | 4.65 | 51.39 | 51.60 | 1:42.99 |
| 4 | Alexander Schlintner | AUT | 9 | 4.80 | 4.75 | 51.56 | 51.46 | 1:43.02 |
| 5 | Felix Seibel | GER | 4 | 4.83 | 4.81 | 51.27 | 52.18 | 1:43.45 |
| 6 | Stefan Röttig | GER | 15 | 4.58 | 4.56 | 51.71 | 51.84 | 1:43.55 |
| 7 | Hayisaer Asaierhazi | CHN | 7 | 4.71 | 4.73 | 51.93 | 51.74 | 1:43.67 |
| 8 | Hiroatsu Takahashi | JPN | 10 | 4.71 | 4.73 | 51.86 | 51.82 | 1:43.78 |
| 9 | Cedric Renner | GER | 12 | 4.89 | 4.85 | 51.76 | 52.14 | 1:43.90 |
| 10 | Zilong Zhu | CHN | 13 | 4.68 | 4.67 | 52.04 | 51.90 | 1:43.94 |
| 11 | Lucas Defayet | FRA | 5 | 4.83 | 4.86 | 51.98 | 52.00 | 1:43.98 |
| 12 | Ludwig Mannhardt | GER | 14 | 4.97 | 4.98 | 51.89 | 52.17 | 1:44.06 |
| 13 | Mihai Pacioianu | ROU | 8 | 4.73 | 4.79 | 51.89 | 52.32 | 1:44.21 |
| 14 | Austin McCrary | USA | 3 | 5.12 | 5.08 | 52.52 | 52.21 | 1:44.73 |
| 15 | Vladyslav Polyvach | POL | 17 | 4.97 | 4.98 | 53.11 | 52.39 | 1:45.50 |
| 16 | Dmitriy Gizitdinov | RUS | 1 | 4.89 | 4.95 | 53.21 | 52.90 | 1:46.11 |
| 17 | Toshiki Kuroiwa | JPN | 19 | 4.83 | 4.84 | 53.81 | 52.94 | 1:46.75 |
| 18 | Valts Smilga | LAT | 21 | 4.91 | 4.93 | 53.62 | 53.32 | 1:46.94 |
| 19 | Gabriele Marenchino | IA | 18 | 4.79 | 4.73 | 53.10 | 55.10 | 1:48.20 |
| 20 | Denis Lorencic | SLO | 20 | 5.35 | 55.48 | |||
| DSQ | Vladislav Marchenkov | RUS | 16 | 4.88 | 52.76 | DSQ |
