Zhu Sweeps EC Lillehammer Stop

November 19, 2022 ken News, Skeleton News 0

From Lillehammer, NOR

(November 19, 2022) – China’s Haifeng Zhu came from behind to win his second straight European Cup skeleton race, edging out Germany’s Cedric Renner for gold.

Renner entered the second heat as the leader, with Italy’s Giovanni Marchetti looking to upset the German for his first ever IBSF gold medal. On the second run, Zhu threw down what would be the quickest heat by .3 to take the lead. The remainder of the contenders all came down and finished well behind Zhu.

Renner, the last man down, put down a strong start and closed the gap on Zhu, but his second run was .3 off Zhu’s pace and as he crossed the line Renner found himself just .01 back to win silver, while Zhu took gold.

It was Zhu’s second straight victory, as he swept the Lillehammer European Cup stop. Renner was second, and Italy’s Manuel Schwärzer finished third.

Daniel Barefoot of the United States moved up from fifth after one heat to finish fourth, leapfrogging Germany’s Ludwig Mannhardt, who finished fifth.

Liechtenstein’s Jean Jacques Buff continued a strong start to his season with a sixth place finish.

Patrick Atkin finished 14th as the top British slider and the only one in the top 20. Teammates Kane Densley and Ronnie Wells barely missed out on a second run with 21st and 23rd place finishes, respectively.

Luxembourg’s Jeff Bauer put together two solid runs to finish 17th. USA’s Hunter Williams couldn’t match his first race’s slide and finished in 25th.

France’s Allen Blackwell finished 32nd in his second race in a half of a decade.

Results:

Pos Name Nation Bib Start 1 Start 2 Run 1 Run 2 Finish
1 Haifeng Zhu CHN 13 4.86 4.79 52.89 52.61 1:45.50
2 Cedric Renner GER 11 4.99 4.95 52.60 52.91 1:45.51
3 Manuel Schwärzer ITA 9 4.83 4.81 52.71 53.18 1:45.89
4 Daniel Barefoot USA 8 4.89 4.87 52.87 53.04 1:45.91
5 Ludwig Mannhardt GER 7 4.89 4.93 52.76 53.18 1:45.94
6 Jean Jacques Buff LIE 5 5.11 5.09 52.89 53.20 1:46.09
7 Vinzenz Buff SUI 6 5.04 5.05 52.88 53.22 1:46.10
8 Giovanni Marchetti ITA 12 4.89 4.89 52.65 53.48 1:46.13
9 Qinwei Lin CHN 36 4.74 4.75 52.76 53.30 1:46.06
10 Stefan Röttig GER 31 4.80 4.77 53.38 53.09 1:46.47
11 Timm Beiwinkler GER 20 5.01 4.95 53.50 53.10 1:46.60
12 Sauel Keiser SUI 15 5.03 4.98 53.18 53.50 1:46.68
13 Lucas Defayet FRA 10 5.02 5.03 53.32 53.41 1:46.73
14 Patrick Atkin GBR 23 4.81 4.78 53.24 53.81 1:47.05
15 Davis Valdovskis LAT 2 4.99 4.95 53.40 53.66 1:47.06
16 Renars Jumikis LAT 22 5.13 5.08 53.63 53.65 1:47.28
17 Jeff Bauer LUX 3 5.21 5.21 53.52 53.96 1:47.48
18 Timon Drahonovsky CZE 4 5.09 5.02 53.39 54.44 1:37.83
19 Roman Tanzer AUT 16 4.92 5.00 53.70 54.31 1:48.01
20 Vladyslav Polyvach POL 21 5.02 4.96 53.88 54.20 1:48.08
21 Kane Densley GBR 14 4.82 53.92
21 Gabriele Marenchino ITA 19 4.86 53.92
23 Ronnie Wells GBR 24 4.90 53.93
24 Marvin Moscara ITA 18 4.77 53.97
25 Hunter Williams USA 17 5.00 54.08
26 Adrian Rodriguez ESP 30 5.02 54.35
27 Lars Rumo SUI 27 5.15 54.41
28 Yaroslav Lavreniuk UKR 25 5.24 54.61
29 Emils Indriksons LAT 1 4.89 54.73
30 Daniel Pedersen DEN 40 5.70 54.76
31 Jonathan Yaw MAS 29 5.17 54.82
32 Allen Blackwell FRA 41 5.43 54.93
33 Markuss Everss LAT 26 5.11 54.98
34 Joeri van Kuppeveld NED 34 5.06 55.20
35 Mio Olsson Klarqvist SWE 28 5.27 55.22
36 Guido Persoon NED 33 4.93 55.23
37 Theodor Buligescu ROU 46 5.19 55.32
38 Luca Ungureanu ROU 44 5.44 55.85
39 Gidon Bante NED 39 5.28 56.17
40 Alberto Porras ESP 42 5.46 56.49
41 Gabriel Berger AUS 45 5.48 56.52
42 Bor van den Berg NED 32 5.19 56.60
43 Javier Basas ESP 43 5.26 56.91
44 Broeck van den Didier BEL 37 5.36 56.97
45 Vladyslav Klymenko UKR 38 5.45 57.36
46 Marko Stipanovic CRO 35 5.39 57.63