skeleton
Grotheer and Neise have chances for the title at halftime of the World Cup
On course for gold at the halfway point of the World Cup: Christopher Grotheer. photo
© Robert Michael/dpa
For the two skeleton Olympic champions Christopher Grotheer and Hannah Neise, the chances of winning World Cup gold are intact. Other Germans also still have medal hopes given the capricious weather.
Christopher Grotheer is on course for gold at the halfway point of the World Cup, Hannah Neise is only a tiny distance away from the title. The two skeleton Olympic champions from Beijing go into the second day of the home title fights in Winterberg with a lot of hope.
Grotheer, who competes for BRC Thuringia, is four hundredths of a second ahead of defending champion Matt Weston from Great Britain. Olympic silver medalist Axel Jungk from BSC Sachsen Oberbärenburg improved to fifth place at the halfway point of the World Cup, but is only 0.12 seconds behind place and the Chinese Zheng Yin.
“In the second run I took a little more risk, and it paid off,” said Grotheer. Jungk called his first run “a disaster. The second one was at a very good level, let’s see what happens next.”
Neise was only 0.06 seconds behind first place
With a strong second run, the German skeleton pilots also maintained their chances of winning the title. Neise improved from seventh to third place on her home track. Before the final two runs this Friday, the woman from Winterberg is only 0.06 seconds behind the leading Canadian Hallie Clarke. Second place with the British Tabitha Stoecker is only three hundredths of a second.
Defending champion Susanne Kreher from BSC Sachsen Oberbärenburg is in fifth place. The 2018 Olympic silver medalist, Jacqueline Pfeifer from RSG Hochsauerland, is also within striking distance of the medals in sixth place, just a tenth of a second behind bronze. Among the men, Felix Keisinger from WSV Königssee is in seventh place. He also still has medal hopes.
“I’m just lagging behind at the start, I’m a tenth and a half short of keeping up with the front runners. My two runs were okay, there were just little things,” said Neise. Kreher said about the rather high temperatures of around nine degrees Celsius and drizzle: “I thought a little more was possible at the start. I don’t know where the time went. Maybe it wasn’t the best material for the weather.”
Head coach Christian Baude spoke of “a crazy race. The track tilted a little in the second run. Susi and Jacka benefited a bit, and Hannah also moved forward. It will be a very close, exciting race tomorrow too.”