From Lillehammer, NOR
(November 18, 2022) – China’s Haifeng Zhu and 45 other athletes took to the ice in Norway for the season opener, and it was the Chinese athlete winning both heats on his way to a .2 second victory over Germany’s Cedric Renner for his first ever European Cup gold medal.
Renner and Zhu entered the second heat separated by .11, with Renner slightly closing the .12 gap he faced off the top. On that second run Renner slid into the lead by .33 with only Zhu to go. But Zhu was once again quick off the top, matching his first heat’s 4.80, and by the second split he was in the lead and never looked back, with a final margin of victory of .2.
The gold for Zhu was his second in his IBSF career, having had won a gold medal in the North American Cup the prior season.
Renner’s silver was his 15th consecutive top six in European Cup action. Over that time he has amassed one gold six silvers, and a pair of bronze medals.
The United States’ Daniel Barefoot had the third quickest time in both heats on his way to a bronze medal, his first in Europe on either European Cup or Intercontinental Cup. He previously had won three silver medals in North American Cup action between Lake Placid and Park City.
Jean Jacques Buff gave Liechtenstein its best ever European Cup skeleton finish with a fourth place finish, .07 ahead of Germany’s Ludwig Mannhardt in fifth. Vinzenz Buff gave the sliding Buff family a second top-six finish with his sixth place finish for Switzerland.
Great Britain placed two men in the second heat of the extraordinarily large field. Kane Densley finished 11th from the 44th starting position on the strength of the quickest start of the second heat. Teammate Patrick Atkin finished 20th as the second British slider in the top 20, while Ronnie Wells just missed out on a second run in 22nd.
The United States’ Hunter Williams finished 14th to start the European Cup season. It was his third straight top 20 finish in Lillehammer after 13th and 16th place finishes in ICC competition the week before.
Allen Blackwell made his triumphant return to IBSF international competition after a near six year hiatus. Blackwell, now sliding for France, made his first start since January 20, 2017 in Lake Placid sliding for the United States and his first European Cup start since 2013. From the final starting position he edged out Germany’s Stefan Röttig, who had won the previous season’s European Cup finale in Altenberg, to finish 33rd.
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Finish |
| 1 | Haifeng Zhu | CHN | 8 | 4.80 | 4.80 | 52.38 | 52.77 | 1:45.15 |
| 2 | Cedric Renner | GER | 5 | 4.92 | 4.95 | 52.49 | 52.86 | 1:45.35 |
| 3 | Daniel Barefoot | USA | 11 | 4.87 | 4.89 | 52.77 | 52.91 | 1:45.68 |
| 4 | Jean Jacques Buff | LIE | 4 | 5.08 | 5.06 | 52.87 | 53.01 | 1:45.88 |
| 5 | Ludwig Mannhardt | GER | 6 | 4.90 | 4.86 | 52.85 | 53.10 | 1:45.95 |
| 6 | Vinzenz Buff | SUI | 23 | 5.04 | 5.04 | 53.06 | 53.18 | 1:46.24 |
| 7 | Giovanni Marchetti | ITA | 20 | 4.88 | 4.87 | 53.09 | 53.28 | 1:46.37 |
| 8 | Manuel Schwärzer | ITA | 12 | 4.81 | 4.80 | 53.30 | 53.28 | 1:46.58 |
| 9 | Timon Drahonovsky | CZE | 18 | 5.05 | 5.01 | 53.29 | 53.48 | 1:46.77 |
| 10 | Lucas Defayet | FRA | 7 | 5.02 | 4.93 | 53.34 | 53.57 | 1:46.91 |
| 11 | Kane Densley | GBR | 44 | 4.79 | 4.77 | 53.29 | 53.64 | 1:46.93 |
| 12 | Samuel Keiser | SUI | 14 | 5.06 | 5.00 | 53.68 | 53.40 | 1:47.08 |
| 13 | Roman Tanzer | AUT | 1 | 4.89 | 4.88 | 53.76 | 53.83 | 1:47.59 |
| 14 | Hunter Williams | USA | 13 | 5.00 | 4.96 | 53.63 | 54.01 | 1:47.64 |
| 15 | Marvin Moscara | ITA | 21 | 4.80 | 4.79 | 53.50 | 54.23 | 1:47.73 |
| 16 | Gabriele Marenchino | ITA | 2 | 4.85 | 4.87 | 53.67 | 54.10 | 1:47.77 |
| 17 | Timm Beiwinkler | GER | 28 | 4.96 | 4.89 | 53.70 | 54.11 | 1:47.81 |
| 18 | Vladyslav Polyvach | POL | 17 | 5.03 | 4.96 | 53.85 | 54.00 | 1:47.85 |
| 19 | Renars Jumikis | LAT | 31 | 5.13 | 5.01 | 53.83 | 54.14 | 1:47.97 |
| 20 | Patrick Atkin | GBR | 19 | 4.78 | 4.77 | 53.85 | 54.13 | 1:47.98 |
| 21 | Emils Indriksons | LAT | 45 | 4.86 | 4.94 | 53.78 | 54.39 | 1:48.17 |
| 22 | Ronnie Wells | GBR | 16 | 4.85 | 53.88 | |||
| 23 | Davis Valdovskis | LAT | 33 | 4.98 | 54.11 | |||
| 24 | Jeff Bauer | LUX | 10 | 5.20 | 54.16 | |||
| 25 | Yuroslav Lavreniuk | UKR | 25 | 5.19 | 54.29 | |||
| 26 | Markuss Renar Everss | LAT | 29 | 5.04 | 54.35 | |||
| 27 | Lars Rumo | SUI | 24 | 5.07 | 54.39 | |||
| 28 | Mio Olsson Klarqvist | SWE | 3 | 5.27 | 54.60 | |||
| 29 | Jonathan Maw | MAS | 15 | 5.14 | 54.82 | |||
| 30 | Adrian Rodriguez | ESP | 22 | 4.98 | 54.85 | |||
| 31 | Guido Persoon | NED | 30 | 4.91 | 54.90 | |||
| 32 | Theodor Buligescu | ROU | 41 | 5.16 | 54.99 | |||
| 33 | Allen Blackwell | FRA | 46 | 5.39 | 55.04 | |||
| 34 | Stefan Röttig | GER | 9 | 5.19 | 55.19 | |||
| 35 | Joeri van Kupeveld | NED | 37 | 4.90 | 55.21 | |||
| 36 | Luca Ungureanu | ROU | 36 | 5.38 | 55.87 | |||
| 37 | Daniel Pedersen | DEN | 42 | 5.10 | 56.03 | |||
| 38 | Bor van den Berg | NED | 38 | 5.12 | 56.56 | |||
| 39 | Gabriel Berger | AUS | 26 | 5.44 | 56.62 | |||
| 40 | Marko Stipanovic | CRO | 35 | 5.29 | 56.85 | |||
| 41 | Javier Basas | ESP | 40 | 5.16 | 56.90 | |||
| 42 | Brock van den Didier | BEL | 34 | 5.43 | 57.02 | |||
| 43 | Vladyslav Klymenko | UKR | 39 | 5.43 | 57.80 | |||
| 44 | Gidon Bante | NED | 43 | 5.18 | 57.88 | |||
| 45 | Alberto Porras | ESP | 27 | 5.84 | 58.16 | |||
| 46 | Qinwei Lin | CHN | 32 | 4.72 | 58.54 |
