From Winterberg, GER
(Nov. 25, 2017) Kevin Fischnaller took advantage of a combination of starting spot and the predictably unpredictable weather to win his first ever FIL World Cup gold medal.
The Italian was the 11th off the top of the Winterberg track and put down the quick time of the early starters, many of whom peppered the scoring sheet after one run. Just after Fischnaller’s run, the snow began to pick up, causing the track to slow down. Late starters like Wolfgang Kindl, Semen Pavlichenko, and Felix Loch all had clean runs, but found themselves deep in the field for their second run.
The snow let up on the second run, and the athletes who generally find themselves in medal contention made their moves. Semen Pavlichenko jumped from 16th into the top five with the second fastest run in the heat. Tucker West (17th to 10th), Wolfgang Kindl (13th to 8th), and Nico Gleirscher (25th to 12th) all made impressive jumps as well.
With ten sleds to go, Felix Loch put down the time you would expect him to in Winterberg, placing him in the lead with nine sleds to go. Nobody else could match his speed, but Fischnaller had enough of a padding built up to hold off the German by .067 to take his first ever gold. Loch finished second, and Stepan Fedorov had two consistent runs (5th and 6th fastest, respectively) to finish with a bronze medal.
David Gleirscher dropped from third to fourth in his second run, Pavlichenko finished fifth, and Ralf Palik finished sixth.
The USA’s Tucker West was the top finishing American in tenth place, with Chris Mazdzer finishing just outside of the top 20 in 21st and Taylor Morris finishing 23rd. For Canada, Mitchel Malyk led the way in 20th, while teammate Samuel Edney finished 28th.
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
| 1 | Kevin Fischnaller | ITA | 11 | 3.867 | 3.877 | 52.428 | 53.100 | 1:45.528 |
| 2 | Felix Loch | GER | 29 | 3.871 | 3.851 | 52.806 | 52.789 | 1:45.595 |
| 3 | Stepan Fedorov | RUS | 23 | 3.850 | 3.857 | 52.746 | 52.899 | 1:45.645 |
| 4 | David Gleirscher | AUT | 1 | 3.853 | 3.857 | 52.568 | 53.112 | 1:45.680 |
| 5 | Semen Pavlichenko | RUS | 30 | 3.845 | 3.830 | 52.914 | 52.792 | 1:45.706 |
| 6 | Ralf Palik | GER | 17 | 3.883 | 3.859 | 52.753 | 52.967 | 1:45.720 |
| 7 | Armin Frauscher | AUT | 5 | 3.841 | 3.857 | 52.572 | 53.156 | 1:45.728 |
| 8 | Wolfgang Kindl | AUT | 31 | 3.908 | 3.890 | 52.880 | 52.859 | 1:45.739 |
| 9 | Theo Gruber | ITA | 4 | 3.906 | 3.916 | 52.548 | 53.292 | 1:45.840 |
| 10 | Tucker West | USA | 25 | 3.827 | 3.806 | 52.930 | 52.911 | 1:45.841 |
| 11 | Johannes Ludwig | GER | 26 | 3.852 | 3.831 | 52.974 | 52.874 | 1:45.848 |
| 12 | Nico Gleirscher | AUT | 15 | 3.891 | 3.871 | 53.047 | 52.828 | 1:45.875 |
| 13 | Riks Rozitis | LAT | 14 | 3.940 | 3.931 | 52.797 | 53.123 | 1:45.920 |
| 14 | Ondrej Hyman | CZE | 6 | 3.887 | 3.908 | 52.753 | 53.211 | 1:45.964 |
| 15 | Andi Langenhan | GER | 24 | 3.870 | 3.850 | 52.990 | 52.978 | 1:45.968 |
| 16 | Alexandder Stepichev | RUS | 10 | 3.888 | 3.882 | 52.813 | 53.195 | 1:46.008 |
| 17 | Kristers Aparjods | LAT | 28 | 3.882 | 3.876 | 52.997 | 53.020 | 1:46.017 |
| 18 | Dominik Fischnaller | LAT | 27 | 3.923 | 3.865 | 53.004 | 53.022 | 1:46.026 |
| 19 | Roman Repilov | RUS | 32 | 3.879 | 3.840 | 53.028 | 53.021 | 1:46.049 |
| 20 | Mitchel Malyk | CAN | 12 | 3.903 | 3.880 | 52.765 | 53.296 | 1:46.061 |
| 21 | Chris Mazdzer | USA | 16 | 3.862 | 3.852 | 53.010 | 53.110 | 1:46.120 |
| 22 | Maciej Kurowski | POL | 9 | 3.902 | 3.920 | 52.903 | 53.361 | 1:46.264 |
| 23 | Taylor Morris | USA | 13 | 3.922 | 3.949 | 52.912 | 53.416 | 1:46.328 |
| 24 | Arturs Darznieks | LAT | 2 | 3.882 | 3.882 | 52.975 | 53.377 | 1:46.352 |
| 25 | Reinhard Egger | AUT | 21 | 3.902 | 3.867 | 53.335 | 53.087 | 1:46.422 |
| 26 | Aleksandr Gorbatcevich | RUS | 18 | 3.905 | 3.879 | 53.280 | 53.207 | 1:46.487 |
| 27 | Alexander Ferlazzo | AUS | 3 | 3.873 | 3.876 | 52.809 | 53.748 | 1:46.557 |
| 28 | Samuel Edney | CAN | 20 | 3.946 | 3.906 | 53.436 | 53.397 | 1:46.833 |
| 29 | Emanuel Rieder | ITA | 22 | 3.932 | 3.874 | 53.904 | 53.137 | 1:47.041 |
| DNF | Inars Kivlenieks | LAT | 19 | 3.889 | DNF | |||
| DNF | Valentin Cretu | ROU | 8 | 3.868 | DNF | |||
| DSQ | Julian von Schleinitz | GER | 7 | DSQ |
