Winner Martins Dukurs from Latvia starts in the men's skeleton World Cup in Winterberg, Germany, on Friday, Jan. 3, 2014. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Martin Meissner
January 10, 2014 - 7:16 AM
ST. MORITZ, Switzerland - Martins Dukurs rallied in the second heat to pass his brother Tomass Dukurs and win a World Cup skeleton race on Friday, the second straight 1-2 finish for the Latvian siblings.
Martins Dukurs finished two runs down the historic St. Moritz track in 2 minutes, 19.18 seconds for his third win in five races this season. Tomass Dukurs' final time was 2:19.44.
Matt Antoine of the United States finished in 2:19.87 to take third, his third medal of the season and solidifying his position as a podium favourite for next month's Sochi Olympics. Antoine matched his bronze showing from the St. Moritz World Cup in 2012.
Alexander Tretiakov of Russia was fourth, missing the medals for the first time this season, and Kyle Tress of the U.S. was fifth to match the best World Cup finish of his career. Calgary's John Fairbairn was the top Canadian in sixth.
"We always push each other and it helps," Martins Dukurs said. "First run was a pretty solid run, but second run I improved in the push and I'm happy with the result."
With the win, Martins Dukurs passed Tretiakov for the overall World Cup points lead. Tomass Dukurs slipped past Antoine for the third spot, and Tress climbed three spots to 12th in the season standings.
"Things are going well," Antoine said. "First run was a little disappointment at the start but I had a great drive down the track and the second run was kind of the opposite. But things are coming together and hopefully they keep progressing from here."
Calgary's Eric Neilson was ninth. John Daly was 23rd for the U.S., his lowest finish of the season.
Women's skeleton, women's bobsled and two-man bobsled takes to the St. Moritz track on Saturday, then another men's skeleton race and the four-man bobsled competition wraps up the World Cup weekend on Sunday.
This is the next-to-last World Cup weekend before the U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton Federation decides on its rosters for the Sochi Games.
News from © The Associated Press, 2014