From Pyeongchang, KOR
(November 9, 2024) – Christopher Grotheer won his second race in two days at the Alpensia Sliding Centre, as the German edged out Austria’s Samuel Maier for gold.
Grotheer took the lead in heat one from the seventh starting spot and held it throughout the remainder of the heat. Behind him, the previous day’s silver medalist Chanhyuk Yeo sat just .05 back with Maier and Hyungjun Sim tied for third, only .09 back.
In the second heat it was Italian Mattia Gaspari, the previous day’s bronze medalist, who threw down the big second run. His second effort was only .05 off the time set by Grotheer in the first heat, and enough to move him up from 10th to what would eventually be third.
Gaspari’s lead held until Maier’s second slide put the Austrian well into the lead with only Grotheer to go.
Grotheer’s second start matched his first, and while his second slide was slower than his first, it was just enough to edge out Maier for the top spot.
Grotheer’s gold was his third in four races across all tours, and his fourth straight top four finish in Pyeongchang.
The United States’ Austin Florian had the second quickest start in both heats on his way to a fourth place finish, only .09 out of the medals. Ukraine’s Vladyslav Heraskevych had another strong showing and finished fifth, just ahead of Italy’s Amedeo Bagnis in sixth.
The British men missed out on a top six, but did put two sliders in the top ten. Marcus Wyatt had two top-five starts on his way to a seventh place finish, while Matt Weston did the same on his way to a tenth place day. Craig Thompson rounded out the British effort in 24th.
Outside of Florian’s fourth place day, the North Americans struggled on Saturday. Mark Lynch and Ryan Kuehn finished 27th and 28th, while teammate Brayden Posyluzny finished 44th.
For the United States, Daniel Barefoot finished 34th and Hunter Williams 42nd to round out the American effort.
Aussie Nick Timmings finished a season-best 19th, while Malaysia’s Jonathan Yaw finished 35th.
The Asian Cup continues next week with two races on Thursday and Friday leading into the World Cup season on the weekend.
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Finish |
| 1 | Christopher Grotheer | GER | 7 | 4.97 | 4.97 | 52.95 | 53.18 | 1:46.13 |
| 2 | Samuel Maier | AUT | 14 | 4.87 | 4.83 | 53.04 | 53.12 | 1:46.16 |
| 3 | Mattia Gaspari | ITA | 3 | 4.97 | 4.92 | 53.45 | 53.00 | 1:46.45 |
| 4 | Austin Florian | USA | 15 | 4.67 | 4.65 | 53.43 | 53.13 | 1:46.56 |
| 5 | Vladyslav Heraskevych | UKR | 8 | 4.87 | 4.84 | 53.09 | 53.55 | 1:46.64 |
| 6 | Amedeo Bagnis | ITA | 17 | 4.75 | 4.75 | 53.66 | 53.15 | 1:46.81 |
| 7 | Marcus Wyatt | GBR | 18 | 4.75 | 4.73 | 53.42 | 53.44 | 1:46.86 |
| 8 | Haifeng Zhu | CHN | 5 | 4.76 | 4.76 | 53.16 | 53.73 | 1:46.89 |
| 9 | Vinzenz Buff | SUI | 2 | 5.00 | 4.98 | 53.36 | 53.57 | 1:46.93 |
| 10 | Matt Weston | GBR | 6 | 4.74 | 4.74 | 53.71 | 53.25 | 1:46.96 |
| 11 | Hyungjun Sim | KOR | 1 | 4.75 | 4.71 | 53.04 | 54.06 | 1:47.10 |
| 12 | Chanhyuk Yeo | KOR | 10 | 4.79 | 4.77 | 53.00 | 54.13 | 1:47.13 |
| 13 | Wenhao Chen | CHN | 9 | 4.78 | 4.92 | 53.64 | 53.58 | 1:47.22 |
| 14 | Lukas Nydegger | GER | 11 | 4.95 | 4.98 | 53.78 | 53.69 | 1:47.47 |
| 15 | Alexander Schlintner | AUT | 30 | 4.89 | 4.88 | 54.10 | 53.38 | 1:47.48 |
| 16 | Qinwei Lin | CHN | 19 | 4.64 | 4.63 | 53.93 | 53.76 | 1:47.69 |
| 17 | Axel Jungk | GER | 16 | 5.04 | 5.02 | 54.81 | 53.25 | 1:48.06 |
| 18 | Wengang Yan | CHN | 13 | 4.79 | 4.78 | 54.41 | 53.67 | 1:48.08 |
| 19 | Nicholas Timmings | AUS | 31 | 4.99 | 4.97 | 54.47 | 53.66 | 1:48.13 |
| 20 | Yaroslav Lavreniuk | UKR | 12 | 5.01 | 4.99 | 54.43 | 53.80 | 1:48.23 |
| 21 | Zheng Yin | CHN | 20 | 4.95 | 4.92 | 54.15 | 54.41 | 1:48.56 |
| 22 | Rasmus Johansen | DEN | 36 | 4.85 | 4.99 | 54.94 | 53.84 | 1:48.78 |
| 23 | Felix Keisinger | GER | 4 | 4.82 | 4.83 | 54.32 | 54.54 | 1:48.86 |
| 24 | Craig Thompson | GBR | 27 | 4.81 | 4.81 | 54.84 | 54.29 | 1:49.13 |
| 25 | Lin-Wei Peng | TPE | 26 | 5.08 | 4.92 | 54.94 | 54.32 | 1:49.26 |
| 26 | Yeonsu Shin | KOR | 37 | 4.95 | 4.96 | 54.62 | 54.92 | 1:49.54 |
| 27 | Mark Lynch | CAN | 23 | 5.00 | 54.98 | |||
| 28 | Ryan Kuehn | CAN | 28 | 4.74 | 55.02 | |||
| 29 | Zhongxu Lin | CHN | 40 | 4.89 | 54.40 | |||
| 30 | Livio Summermatter | SUI | 24 | 4.81 | 55.44 | |||
| 31 | Sungsu Lee | KOR | 32 | 4.92 | 55.60 | |||
| 32 | Chun-Hung Chiang | TPE | 22 | 5.06 | 55.71 | |||
| 33 | Eunwoo Kwack | KOR | 33 | 5.05 | 55.76 | |||
| 34 | Daniel Barefoot | USA | 34 | 4.81 | 55.83 | |||
| 35 | Jonathan Yaw | MAS | 25 | 5.02 | 56.03 | |||
| 36 | Giovanni Marchetti | ITA | 38 | 4.83 | 56.10 | |||
| 37 | Adrian Rodriguez | ESP | 39 | 4.90 | 56.33 | |||
| 38 | Colin Freeling | BEL | 44 | 5.15 | 56.41 | |||
| 39 | Oren Milstein | ISR | 21 | 5.23 | 56.60 | |||
| 40 | Jared Firestone | ISR | 35 | 5.20 | 56.67 | |||
| 41 | Peter Makrides | AUS | 29 | 5.04 | 56.68 | |||
| 42 | Hunter Williams | USA | 41 | 4.83 | 56.90 | |||
| 43 | Kevin Heng Lee | TPE | 42 | 5.09 | 57.84 | |||
| 44 | Brayden Posyluzny | CAN | 43 | 4.90 | 61.22 |
