It was the Germans and then everybody else in women's skeleton at the BMW IBSF World Championships at the Whistler Sliding Centre on Friday afternoon.
Germany took all three podium spots as the nation's athletes routed the four-run competition, with Tina Hermann earning gold over Jacqueline Loelling (0.38 seconds back) and Sophia Griebel (1.17 seconds back).
Notably, fourth-place finisher Anna Fernstaedtova raced for Germany until this season, when she began representing the Czech Republic.
Hermann loved how the track was running so quickly, and said it helped her performance.
"I'm really happy. I can't describe it," said Hermann, who also won the World Championships in Innsbruck in 2016. "I love this track here. I love the track conditions. The ice was really great."
Hermann set a new track record with her first run of the competition on Thursday afternoon, but Loelling subsequently bested it by 0.07 seconds with her final run on Friday to narrow the gap. With a fairly substantial lead on her compatriot, Hermann sought to regain the best-ever time down, falling short by just 0.01 seconds.
"I was nervous, but also a little bit angry because my teammate broke my track record. I was thinking, 'Come on, lady, you can do it again,'" Hermann said.
For her part, Loelling was thrilled to add a new best to her silver medal.
"It's really nice to have the track record on the fastest and (most) difficult track in the world," she said. "I was a little worried at the top because it was the final but on the track, I knew it was a good one."
The top Canadian was Elisabeth Maier, who has three World Cup victories to her name, including one here in Whistler in 2016. She said the Canadian team, which also featured Mirela Rahneva (a two-time winner on the World Cup tour this year) and Madison Charney, was hoping for better finishes. Maier took 10th while Rahneva and Charney were 12th and 17th, respectively.
"I'd lie if I'd say I wasn't disappointed," Maier said. "Obviously, we came in with much higher expectations, podiums in mind. We've won races here in the past."
Maier said that there weren't any equipment choices that she would have made differently, adding that her own performance wasn't up to her own standards.
"It was the fastest I've ever slid here and I wasn't prepared for that, so that's on me," she said.
Dukurs wins record sixth men's titleMartins Dukurs is living proof that past successes don't diminish the hunger for future titles.
With five BMW IBSF World Championships already under his belt, the Latvian skeleton legend captured a sixth in convincing fashion at the Whistler Sliding Centre on Friday morning, winning all four runs and besting runner-up Nikita Tregubov of Russia by 0.51 seconds. Korea's Sungbin Yun was third, 0.88 seconds back.
With an insurmountable-barring-catastrophe lead of nearly a half-second entering the final heat, Dukurs broke the track's start record-held by Russian Alexander Tretiakov-that had stood for nine years.
Dukurs set himself up for success by setting the new track record in his second run on Thursday morning, besting Yun's 2017 mark by 0.08 seconds.
In a competition full of incredible moments for Dukurs, his incredible start stood out.
"I'm more surprised by the push," he said. "I was focused and I needed to do my best."
After a first weekend that saw Canadians medal in all three events, the second weekend was less successful for the hosts. After a tough start that saw him sit 17th at the midpoint, Canadian veteran Dave Greszczyszyn posted the fifth- and seventh-best runs in Heats 3 and 4, respectively, to climb to 11th overall, just 0.02 seconds outside of the top 10.
The other Canadian entry, Mark Lynch, finished 23rd.
Sliding action continues Friday night with the four-man bobsleigh at 5 p.m.
For complete results, visit www.ibsf.org.
