Yangtze (China), Nov. 20, LETA. On Saturday, Juris and Andris Shichi won the third place in the first stage of the World Cup in tobogganing in the doubles competition at the Beijing Olympic Games in Yangtze, where the second Latvian duo Mārtiņš Bots / Roberts Plūme took the fifth place.
The Schitz brothers lagged behind the winners by 0.429 seconds, the German crew Tony Egert / Sasha Benecken, and the Austrian duo Thomas Stein / Lawrence Coller by 0.240 seconds.
Bots / Plum finished in fifth place, 0.868 seconds behind the winners.
They were also overtaken by the Austrian duo Jannik Miller / Armin Frausser, who lost 0.703 seconds to the winners, but the German sledge drivers Robin Geieke and David Gamms remained 0.248 seconds behind the Latvians.
In the first race, Schici started with the number 19 and reached a new track record – 58,991 seconds, surpassing the previous leaders – the Austrian duo Thomas Steij / Lorenz Koller. After the first race, the Latvians took the third place, the leaders – the German crew Tony Egerts / Sasha Benecken – lost 0.198 seconds, and the second place Stey and Collier – 0.112 seconds.
Bots / Plūme, who had the 21st start number, also drove well, taking the fourth place at that time, but after the first race, he was in the fifth place, 0.485 seconds behind the Germans.
Both Latvian crews made an excellent second trip, protecting their places.
Stey and Collier made a rough mistake at the bottom of the track, but took second place.
24 crews started.
Shic was one of the best in his career last season, winning second place in the overall World Cup by conceding only to the Austrian Stey and Collier. They also had two victories – the European Championship in Sigulda and the sprint in Innsbruck.
For the new riders Bot / Plum, the 2020/2021 season was the break-out season, in which they were eighth overall. They put an end to the season with their first victory in their PK career, finishing first on the St. Moritz track.
Oskars Gudramovičs / Pēteris Kalniņš and Kristens Putins / Imants Marcinkēvičs will not start this season.
In the men’s singles matches, the races will take place at 13.25 and 15.05.
There will be a women’s competition and a team relay on Sunday. Latvia will be represented in the women’s competition by Elīza Tīruma, Sigita Bērziņa, Kendija Aparjode and Elīna Ieva Vītola, but Ulla Zirne started only in the Nations Cup due to quotas.
170 sleigh riders from 27 countries have applied for the first stage of the World Cup: 57 women, 53 men and 30 doubles.
After that, the athletes will return to Europe and go to Sochi, where they will spend two stages – on November 27/28 and December 4/5. The stage will continue on December 11/12 in Altenberg, Germany, and a week later in Innsbruck, Austria.
Already in the first two days of 2022, the sixth stage will take place in Winterberg, Germany, and a week later the sleigh athletes will gather in Sigulda. In the middle of the month, on January 15/16, the eighth stage will take place in Oberhof, Germany, and on January 22/23, the World Cup final and the European Championships will take place on the St. Moritz track in Switzerland.
The culmination of the season will be from February 4 to 10, when the Olympic medals will be fought in Yangtze.
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