From Lillehammer, NOR
(January 11, 2024) – China’s Qinwei Lin came from behind in the first of two IBSF Europe Cup men’s skeleton races in Lillehammer to win gold for the first time in his international racing career.
Lin trailed Germany’s Lukas Nydegger by .03 after the first heat. The duo had teammates Weinqiang Geng and Cedric Renner just behind them in third and fourth respectively.
In the second heat the bulk of the medal contenders held their spot but couldn’t move up, with Geng sliding to the lead ahead of Renner by an impressive .63.
Lin’s second push was the fastest of the competition, and he put down a second run very similar to his first to take the lead by .19 over his teammate Geng, to guarantee China two medals on the podium.
The final slider down was Nydegger. As in the first heat, his second start was .2 off the pace set by Lin. Also as in the first heat, Nydegger slid his way back, but this time couldn’t quite make up all the lost time. Despite a quickest top speed of the race, Nydegger crossed the finish line a combined .08 out of the lead to win silver, with Lin taking gold.
Lin’s gold was his first ever IBSF podium. He’d improved in every race in Lillehammer, with finishes of 46th, 9th, and now 1st.
Nydegger’s silver medal gave him a fifth podium to start the season.
Wenqiang Geng, a IBSF World Cup gold medalist in Igls, took his second medal of the season with a bronze.
Germany grabbed the next two spots, with Cedric Renner in fourth and Stefan Röttig in fifth.
Great Britain’s Laurence Bostock rounded out the top six, up from seventh in the first heat. Teammates Kane Densley and Patrick Atkin finished 15th and 17th.
Nick Tucker was the top American with a 16th place finish in his first look at the track in Norway. Darryl Payne finished 22nd in his second ever Europe Cup start, while Bradley Nicol helped put all three Americans in the top 25 with a 25th place finish.
Nick Timmings made the first start of his 2023/2024 Europe Cup season and finished 21st. Allen Blackwell, making his now annual trip to Lillehammer, finished 32nd for France.
Malaysia’s Jonathan Yaw continued a career season with a 24th place finish, up from 25th in the first heat.
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Finish |
| 1 | Qinwei Lin | CHN | 5 | 4.68 | 4.67 | 51.51 | 51.61 | 1:43.12 |
| 2 | Lukas Nydegger | GER | 4 | 4.88 | 4.88 | 51.48 | 51.72 | 1:43.20 |
| 3 | Wenqiang Geng | CHN | 11 | 4.81 | 4.76 | 51.59 | 51.72 | 1:43.31 |
| 4 | Cedric Renner | GER | 6 | 4.89 | 4.92 | 51.83 | 52.11 | 1:43.94 |
| 5 | Stefan Röttig | GER | 12 | 4.74 | 4.73 | 51.86 | 52.19 | 1:44.05 |
| 6 | Laurence Bostock | GBR | 9 | 4.76 | 4.74 | 51.94 | 52.13 | 1:44.07 |
| 7 | Haifeng Zhu | CHN | 18 | 4.82 | 4.76 | 51.92 | 52.18 | 1:44.10 |
| 8 | Timm Beiwinkler | GER | 8 | 4.95 | 4.93 | 52.10 | 52.13 | 1:44.23 |
| 9 | Ludwig Mannhardt | GER | 26 | 4.93 | 4.90 | 52.27 | 52.31 | 1:44.58 |
| 10 | Giovanni Marchetti | ITA | 14 | 4.84 | 4.81 | 52.36 | 52.61 | 1:44.97 |
| 11 | Cedrik Langer | GER | 10 | 4.87 | 4.85 | 52.46 | 52.72 | 1:45.18 |
| 12 | Yuroslav Lavreniuk | UKR | 1 | 5.02 | 4.95 | 52.71 | 52.75 | 1:45.46 |
| 13 | Pietro Drovanti | ITA | 13 | 4.68 | 4.70 | 52.82 | 52.71 | 1:45.53 |
| 14 | Timon Drahonovsky | CZE | 25 | 5.04 | 5.03 | 52.66 | 52.88 | 1:45.54 |
| 15 | Kane Densley | GBR | 7 | 4.76 | 4.75 | 52.74 | 53.07 | 1:45.81 |
| 16 | Nicholas Tucker | USA | 15 | 4.88 | 4.87 | 52.70 | 53.18 | 1:45.88 |
| 17 | Lars Rumo | SUI | 16 | 5.09 | 5.03 | 53.12 | 52.78 | 1:45.90 |
| 18 | Patrick Atkin | GBR | 22 | 4.86 | 4.79 | 53.46 | 52.58 | 1:46.04 |
| 19 | Gabriele Marenchino | ITA | 21 | 4.82 | 4.78 | 53.23 | 53.37 | 1:46.60 |
| 20 | Vladyslav Polyvach | POL | 38 | 4.96 | 4.93 | 53.30 | 53.30 | 1:46.60 |
| 21 | Nicholas Timmings | AUS | 35 | 4.96 | 5.02 | 53.30 | 53.49 | 1:46.79 |
| 22 | Darryl Payne | USA | 36 | 4.99 | 4.96 | 53.42 | 53.39 | 1:46.81 |
| 23 | Maxime Mingeon | FRA | 28 | 5.03 | 5.04 | 53.41 | 53.44 | 1:46.85 |
| 24 | Jonathan Yaw | MAS | 39 | 4.97 | 5.00 | 53.60 | 53.31 | 1:46.91 |
| 25 | Bradley Nicol | USA | 37 | 4.81 | 4.86 | 53.30 | 53.67 | 1:46.97 |
| 26 | Roman Tanzer | AUT | 23 | 4.91 | 53.63 | |||
| 27 | Andrea onti | ITA | 20 | 4.81 | 53.67 | |||
| 28 | Lorenzo Conti | ITA | 27 | 4.94 | 53.70 | |||
| 29 | Eloy Fernandez | ESP | 3 | 5.02 | 53.75 | |||
| 30 | Lin-Wei | TPE | 31 | 4.96 | 53.85 | |||
| 31 | Guido Persoon | NED | 19 | 4.82 | 54.02 | |||
| 32 | Allen Blackwell | FRA | 34 | 5.30 | 54.08 | |||
| 33 | Vladyslav Klymenko | UKR | 30 | 5.04 | 54.30 | |||
| 34 | Bor van den Berg | NED | 24 | 4.92 | 54.50 | |||
| 35 | Sander de Haan | NED | 2 | 5.21 | 55.13 | |||
| 36 | Joeri Van Kuppeveld | NED | 17 | 4.72 | 55.38 | |||
| 37 | Kostiantyn Dziuba | UKR | 33 | 5.63 | 57.54 | |||
| DNF | Leonid Tkachuk | UKR | 32 | 5.71 | DNF | |||
| DNS | Felix de Wit | NED | 29 | DNS |