Silver for Simon Friedli, Christoph Hafer wins bronze
Sigulda (RWH) One day after his first World Cup victory in the 2-man bobsleigh, Oskars Kibermanis (LAT) has now won the European Championship title in the same event. Racing with his brakeman Matiss Miknis, Kibermanis won the final race in the 2019/2020 BMW IBSF World Cup season, which also counted as the European Championships for athletes from Europe.
Switzerland’s Simon Friedli/Gregory Jones, who crashed out from third place during heat two in the previous day's race in Sigulda, managed to top off their third World Cup appearance in the 2-man event with a second-place finish and European Championship silver (0.36 seconds back).
The Olympic Champion Justin Kripps and his brakeman Sam Giguere finished third in the World Cup race in Sigulda (0.41 seconds back) ahead of Christoph Hafer/Christian Hammers (GER). Hafer, the silver medallist from the 2018 Junior World Championships, therefore won European Championship bronze.
The overall win in the 2019/2020 BMW IBSF World Cup had already been secured by defending title holder Francesco Friedrich (GER, 1530 points) in the penultimate race of the season. However, the five-time World Champion and defending European Champion in the 2-man bobsleigh missed out on the final race in Sigulda in order to prepare for the 2020 BMW IBSF World Championships in Altenberg. With his victory, Oskars Kibermanis (LAT, 1478 points) slid past Justin Kripps and into second place. The Canadian pilot (1466 points) finished third overall.
Francesco Friedrich also won the combined overall World Cup standings for the 2-man and 4-man bobsleigh with 3216 points, ahead of Kripps (3069) and Kibermanis (3002).
The 4-man bobsleigh Olympic Champion Oskars Melbardis made his season debut in the racing series on his home track in Sigulda. Following an injury-related break, the 31-year-old pilot competed in the IBSF European Cup and finished in second place in the overall standings for both the 2-man and 4-man event. Melbardis and Intars Dambis finished in fifth place in the World Cup race and fourth place in the European Championships.
Further information, the World Cup results and the latest overall standings are available at ibsf.org. ©RWH2020
