Points, titles and World Championship rehearsal at seventh World Cup of season
Preview as PDF
St Moritz (RWH) The seventh round in the BMW IBSF World Cup Bob + Skeleton 2015/2016 has a lot to offer, with World Cup races, the European Championships and the World Championship rehearsal.The importance of the event is underscored by the venue, as St Moritz is one of the most illustrious names in ice track sports.The famous winter sports resort in Switzerland’s Oberengadin region not only has sunny ski slopes, kilometre upon kilometre of cross country trails, and exclusive sports such as polo and the Cresta Run to offer, it also boasts the Olympia Bob Run St Moritz-Celerina,the only natural ice track in the world on which bobsleigh and skeleton races are still held.The course of the 1,722-metre track between Badrutt’s Park in St Moritz at an altitude of 1,852 m and Celerina-Cresta at 1,738 m, has changed very little in the last 100 years. And the same is true of its design:at the end of November every year, a crew from South Tyrol spends three weeks constructing the new ice track for the season using 5,000 cubic metres of snow and 4,000 of water.The only concessions to modified technology and today’s heavier sleds are a larger curve radius, some stone and wood reinforcement, particularly in the Horseshoe curve, and the extension of the outrun area.
The penultimate round of the World Cup winter in St Moritz will give an indication of who will stand where in the final overall rankings.Mathematically speaking, the 210-point lead held by Martins Dukurs in the men’s skeleton is not enough to guarantee his seventh overall World Cup victory in succession. But after six wins in six races, the Latvian is the clear favourite to win not only the World Cup race in St Moritz, but also the IBSF European Championships, which will be fought out in a race-in-race format at the same time.That, too, would be his seventh consecutive title.
In the women’s skeleton, four season victories have placed Tina Hermann of Germany in the role of favourite,with a 154-point lead on fellow German Jacqueline Lölling, the surprise winner of World Championship silver last year in Winterberg.The 2012 Youth Olympic Champion hasn’t won a World Cup yet, but Lölling is no stranger to a first in St Moritz,as it was here that she won a European Cup race in January 2015.Fans at the track should also watch out for their local slider Marina Gilardoni.The Swiss athlete celebrated her first two World Cup podium finishes this winter, and missed her first victory by a whisker in Lake Placid.
The bobsleigh disciplines are full of excitement this World Cup tour.Only 87 points separate the top two four-man bobsledders, World Champion Maximilian Arndt from Germany and his compatriot Francesco Friedrich. Hot on the heels of Friedrich is Rico Peter, just ten points down as his home World Cup in St Moritz approaches.The Swiss pilot has already come third three times this winter in the four-man event.The 2014 European Championship runner-up is faring even better in the two-man bobsleigh:he celebrated his first victory of the season in Whistler, tying with Korea’s Yunjong Won, who is currently at the top of the overall standings.In the run-up to the last but one race of the season, Rico Peter has the third highest overall World Cup score after Won and joint second-placed Ugis Zalims (LAT) and Nico Walther (GER).
Fans will also be pleased to hear that Beat Hefti is rejoining the World Cup in St Moritz.The 2014 Olympic silver medallist and three-time European Champion in the two-man bobsleigh left the World Cup for the European Cup after injuries beset his team of brakemen.Together with his now recovered brakeman of choice, Alex Baumann, he came second twice on the track hosting the forthcoming World Championships in Innsbruck and won the final European Cup race at home in St Moritz.
Two Swiss teams will be competing on the home track in the four-man bobsleigh, piloted by Rico Peter and Pius Meyerhans.48-year-old Meyerhans came sixteenth in his second World Cup in Park City, surprising everyone with a start time in the first run that was only 0.04 seconds slower than that posted by World Champion Maximilian Arndt.©RWH2015-2016
Keep up to date with bobsleigh and skeleton news on Facebook, Twitter & co.
Lake Placid (RWH) The latest news, detailed start lists, race results and a wealth of photos and information on the BMW IBSF World Cup Bob + Skeleton are again available this season via a variety of social media channels.The International Bobsleigh & Skeleton Federation IBSF maintains its own site on Facebook, and all news is posted straight to the profile pages of the over 2,100 members of the IBSF Facebook group and also sent to Twitter followers (@IBSFsliding), of which there are over 2,600.
A live ticker for all World Cup races, as well as results lists showing all race times and overall times and the latest World Cup standings can also be found after every race at ibsf.org.Many countries throughout the world are showing TV coverage of the BMW IBSF World Cup races,and in addition, ibsf.organd the IBSF YouTube channelwww.youtube.com/user/bobskeletvare presenting all races live with commentary by Martin Haven and John Morgan.The live stream is available in almost every country in the world©RWH2015-2016
On the sidelines
Lizzy Yarnold (GBR), winner of the Olympics and the overall World Cup in 2014, World Champion in 2015 and defending European Champion, is taking a break from the sport of skeleton this 2015/2016 season.But the 27-year-old, who aims to defend her Olympic gold medal at the Winter Games in PyeongChang (KOR) in 2018, has been busy in the meantime.From the end of January she can be seen on British TV as one of the coaches in The Jump,a talent show in which celebrities from sport and showbiz including Olympic champion swimmer Rebecca Adlington, singer Brian McFadden and actress Louisa Lytton face challenges in a variety of ski-related activities, including those of bobsleigh and skeleton.©RWH2015-2016
Johannes Lochner (GER) won the right to compete in the BMW IBSF World Championships 2016 in Innsbruck twice over at the IBSF Junior World Championships in Winterberg mid-January.The 25-year-old, who came a surprise joint second with overall World Cup winner Oskars Melbardis (LAT) at the BMW IBSF World Championships in Winterberg in 2015, won the title of Junior World Champion in both the two-man and the four-man bobsleigh, securing the personal right to compete in the adult format in both disciplines.Lochner also came first in the overall IBSF European Cup standings in two-man and four-man bob. @RWH2015-2016
Wenqiang Geng (CHN) is the most successful slider to date in the newly formed Chinese skeleton team.The ten athletes are being coached by Canada’s Jeff Pain, who came second at the 2002 Olympics and won two skeleton World Championships (2003 and 2005).They were selected in China in the summer of 2015 from 121 applicants and 21 sports, and raced their first competitions at the beginning of 2016 in the IBSF European Cup.Wenqiang Geng came 21st and 19th in Königssee, and in St Moritz he was sixteenth of 42 sliders.In the first run, the 20-year-old recorded the sixth fastest start.©RWH2015-2016
St Moritz timetable
The last World Cup winners in St Moritz in January 2015
The 2015 European Champions
Season champions and World Cup leaders in BMW IBSF World Cup Bob + Skeleton 2015/2016
Preview as PDF
St Moritz (RWH) The seventh round in the BMW IBSF World Cup Bob + Skeleton 2015/2016 has a lot to offer, with World Cup races, the European Championships and the World Championship rehearsal.The importance of the event is underscored by the venue, as St Moritz is one of the most illustrious names in ice track sports.The famous winter sports resort in Switzerland’s Oberengadin region not only has sunny ski slopes, kilometre upon kilometre of cross country trails, and exclusive sports such as polo and the Cresta Run to offer, it also boasts the Olympia Bob Run St Moritz-Celerina,the only natural ice track in the world on which bobsleigh and skeleton races are still held.The course of the 1,722-metre track between Badrutt’s Park in St Moritz at an altitude of 1,852 m and Celerina-Cresta at 1,738 m, has changed very little in the last 100 years. And the same is true of its design:at the end of November every year, a crew from South Tyrol spends three weeks constructing the new ice track for the season using 5,000 cubic metres of snow and 4,000 of water.The only concessions to modified technology and today’s heavier sleds are a larger curve radius, some stone and wood reinforcement, particularly in the Horseshoe curve, and the extension of the outrun area.
The penultimate round of the World Cup winter in St Moritz will give an indication of who will stand where in the final overall rankings.Mathematically speaking, the 210-point lead held by Martins Dukurs in the men’s skeleton is not enough to guarantee his seventh overall World Cup victory in succession. But after six wins in six races, the Latvian is the clear favourite to win not only the World Cup race in St Moritz, but also the IBSF European Championships, which will be fought out in a race-in-race format at the same time.That, too, would be his seventh consecutive title.
In the women’s skeleton, four season victories have placed Tina Hermann of Germany in the role of favourite,with a 154-point lead on fellow German Jacqueline Lölling, the surprise winner of World Championship silver last year in Winterberg.The 2012 Youth Olympic Champion hasn’t won a World Cup yet, but Lölling is no stranger to a first in St Moritz,as it was here that she won a European Cup race in January 2015.Fans at the track should also watch out for their local slider Marina Gilardoni.The Swiss athlete celebrated her first two World Cup podium finishes this winter, and missed her first victory by a whisker in Lake Placid.
The bobsleigh disciplines are full of excitement this World Cup tour.Only 87 points separate the top two four-man bobsledders, World Champion Maximilian Arndt from Germany and his compatriot Francesco Friedrich. Hot on the heels of Friedrich is Rico Peter, just ten points down as his home World Cup in St Moritz approaches.The Swiss pilot has already come third three times this winter in the four-man event.The 2014 European Championship runner-up is faring even better in the two-man bobsleigh:he celebrated his first victory of the season in Whistler, tying with Korea’s Yunjong Won, who is currently at the top of the overall standings.In the run-up to the last but one race of the season, Rico Peter has the third highest overall World Cup score after Won and joint second-placed Ugis Zalims (LAT) and Nico Walther (GER).
Fans will also be pleased to hear that Beat Hefti is rejoining the World Cup in St Moritz.The 2014 Olympic silver medallist and three-time European Champion in the two-man bobsleigh left the World Cup for the European Cup after injuries beset his team of brakemen.Together with his now recovered brakeman of choice, Alex Baumann, he came second twice on the track hosting the forthcoming World Championships in Innsbruck and won the final European Cup race at home in St Moritz.
Two Swiss teams will be competing on the home track in the four-man bobsleigh, piloted by Rico Peter and Pius Meyerhans.48-year-old Meyerhans came sixteenth in his second World Cup in Park City, surprising everyone with a start time in the first run that was only 0.04 seconds slower than that posted by World Champion Maximilian Arndt.©RWH2015-2016
Keep up to date with bobsleigh and skeleton news on Facebook, Twitter & co.
Lake Placid (RWH) The latest news, detailed start lists, race results and a wealth of photos and information on the BMW IBSF World Cup Bob + Skeleton are again available this season via a variety of social media channels.The International Bobsleigh & Skeleton Federation IBSF maintains its own site on Facebook, and all news is posted straight to the profile pages of the over 2,100 members of the IBSF Facebook group and also sent to Twitter followers (@IBSFsliding), of which there are over 2,600.
A live ticker for all World Cup races, as well as results lists showing all race times and overall times and the latest World Cup standings can also be found after every race at ibsf.org.Many countries throughout the world are showing TV coverage of the BMW IBSF World Cup races,and in addition, ibsf.organd the IBSF YouTube channelwww.youtube.com/user/bobskeletvare presenting all races live with commentary by Martin Haven and John Morgan.The live stream is available in almost every country in the world©RWH2015-2016
On the sidelines
Lizzy Yarnold (GBR), winner of the Olympics and the overall World Cup in 2014, World Champion in 2015 and defending European Champion, is taking a break from the sport of skeleton this 2015/2016 season.But the 27-year-old, who aims to defend her Olympic gold medal at the Winter Games in PyeongChang (KOR) in 2018, has been busy in the meantime.From the end of January she can be seen on British TV as one of the coaches in The Jump,a talent show in which celebrities from sport and showbiz including Olympic champion swimmer Rebecca Adlington, singer Brian McFadden and actress Louisa Lytton face challenges in a variety of ski-related activities, including those of bobsleigh and skeleton.©RWH2015-2016
Johannes Lochner (GER) won the right to compete in the BMW IBSF World Championships 2016 in Innsbruck twice over at the IBSF Junior World Championships in Winterberg mid-January.The 25-year-old, who came a surprise joint second with overall World Cup winner Oskars Melbardis (LAT) at the BMW IBSF World Championships in Winterberg in 2015, won the title of Junior World Champion in both the two-man and the four-man bobsleigh, securing the personal right to compete in the adult format in both disciplines.Lochner also came first in the overall IBSF European Cup standings in two-man and four-man bob. @RWH2015-2016
Wenqiang Geng (CHN) is the most successful slider to date in the newly formed Chinese skeleton team.The ten athletes are being coached by Canada’s Jeff Pain, who came second at the 2002 Olympics and won two skeleton World Championships (2003 and 2005).They were selected in China in the summer of 2015 from 121 applicants and 21 sports, and raced their first competitions at the beginning of 2016 in the IBSF European Cup.Wenqiang Geng came 21st and 19th in Königssee, and in St Moritz he was sixteenth of 42 sliders.In the first run, the 20-year-old recorded the sixth fastest start.©RWH2015-2016
St Moritz timetable
| Date/time CET |
Race |
|
| Friday, 5 February |
12.30 pm 2.45 pm |
Skeleton men, run 1 Skeleton men, run 2 |
| Friday, 5 February |
1.45 pm 3.45 pm |
Skeleton women, run 1 Skeleton women, run 2 |
| Saturday, 6 February |
8.30 am 10.45 am |
Bobsleigh women, run 1 Bobsleigh women, run 2 |
| Saturday, 6 February |
9.30 am 11.45 am |
Bobsleigh men, run 1 Bobsleigh men, run 2 |
| Sunday, 7 February |
10.30 am 12.00 pm |
Four-man bobsleigh, run 1 Four-man bobsleigh, run 2 |
The last World Cup winners in St Moritz in January 2015
| 1. |
2. |
3. |
||||
| Skeleton Women |
FLOCK, Janine |
AUT |
VATHJE, Elisabeth |
CAN |
DEAS, Laura |
GBR |
| Skeleton Men |
DUKURS, Martins |
LAT |
YUN, Sungbin |
KOR |
TREGYBOV, Nikita |
RUS |
| Bobsleigh Women |
SCHNEIDERHEINZE, Anja DRAZEK, Annika |
GER |
MARTINI, Cathleen BERTELS, Franziska |
GER |
GREUBEL POSER, Jamie GARRETT, Cherrelle |
USA |
| Bobsleigh Men |
MELBARDIS, Oskars DREISKENS, Daumants |
LAT |
HEFTI, Beat BAUMANN, Alex ZALIMS, Ugis DAMBIS, Intars |
SUI LAT |
- |
LAT |
| Four-man bobsleigh |
MELBARDIS, Oskars DREISKENS, Daumants VILKASTE, Arvis STRENGA, Janis |
LAT |
FRIEDRICH, Francesco BERMBACH, Gregor GROTHKOPP, Martin MARGIS, Thorsten |
GER |
ARNDT, Maximilian SPEER, Jan RÖDIGER, Alexander PUTZE, Martin |
GER |
The 2015 European Champions
| 1. |
2. |
3. |
||||
| Skeleton Women |
Lizzy YARNOLD |
GBR |
Janine FLOCK |
AUT |
Rose McGRANDLE |
GBR |
| Skeleton Men |
Martins DUKURS |
LAT |
Alexander TRETIAKOV |
RUS |
Tomass DUKURS |
LAT |
| Bobsleigh Women |
Anja SCHNEIDERHEINZE Franziska BERTELS |
GER |
Cathleen MARTINI Stephanie SCHNEIDER |
GER |
Stefanie SZCZUREK Erline NOLTE |
GER |
| Bobsleigh Men |
Francesco FRIEDRICH Martin GROTHKOPP |
GER |
Oskars MELBARDIS Daumants DREISKENS |
LAT |
Rico PETER Bror VAN DER ZIJDE |
SUI |
| Four-man bobsleigh |
Oskars MELBARDIS Daumants DREISKENS Arvis VILKASTE Janis STRENGA |
LAT |
Alexander KASJANOV Ilvir HUZIN Aleksei PUSHKAREV Aleksey ZAYTSEV |
RUS |
Francesco FRIEDRICH Candy BAUER Martin GROTHKOPP Thorsten MARGIS |
GER |
Season champions and World Cup leaders in BMW IBSF World Cup Bob + Skeleton 2015/2016
