Russia win pair of golds at luge WCup
WINTERBERG, Germany, Feb 23, (AP): Russia’s Aleksandr Denisev and Vladislav Antonov were easy winners of a watered-down World Cup doubles luge race Sunday, while many of the circuit’s top sliders sat out in protest over track conditions.
Denisev and Antonov won by more than six-tenths of a second, a massive margin in luge. Latvia’s Oskars Gudramovics and Peteris Kalnins took the silver, and Poland pulled off a surprise with Wojciech Jerzy Chmielewski and Jakub Kowalewski taking the bronze.
It was Poland’s first World Cup medal in more than a decade.
No teams from Germany, Austria or the US competed Sunday, the final day of the Winterberg World Cup that was marred by athlete protests and racing boycotts over track conditions.
The top Latvian doubles team of Andris Sics and Juris Sics did race, but finished only ninth in a 13-sled field and is now eliminated from contention for the season-long points title.
Russia won the team relay Sunday, followed by Italy and Latvia. Only six nations took part. at a world title race in bobsled in 12 years.
Latvia got the bronze, with Oskars Kibermanis and Matiss Miknis finishing 1.79 seconds behind Friedrich.
“Franz is racing in a whole other league,” German driver Nico Walther said. Friedrich now has won the twoman world title six consecutive times. He’s a two-time world champion in four-man and has two other golds from overall team events. Before Sunday, he was tied with Italian pilot Eugenio Monti for the most world bobsled gold medals; Monti won nine in the 1950s and 1960s.
Hunter Church and Josh Williamson finished 19th for the US. They were the lone American sled in the field.
Worlds continue next weekend with championships in men’s skeleton, women’s skeleton and four-man events.