From Igls, Austria
Alexander Zubkov in RUS 1 leads the way after the first heat, but has Steven Holcomb and USA 1 in his mirror. Holcomb and company actually set the fast push time by .01 over Zubkov’s team, and just the slightest of drifts for the American sled is all that sets the top two apart.
RUS 2 and GER 1 are tied for third, with GER 3 sitting in fifth. John Napier in USA 2 is in a tie for 11th at the moment, just .01 out of a top 10 spot. The top 20 will go onto round two, while the final four will pack up and head to France a couple of hours early.
Results from heat 1:
| Pos | Pilot | Draw | Nation | Run 1 |
| 1 | Zubkov | 4 | RUS 1 | 51.56 |
| 2 | Holcomb | 10 | USA 1 | 51.65 |
| 3 | Kasjanov | 2 | RUS 2 | 51.77 |
| 3 | Florschuetz | 12 | GER 1 | 51.77 |
| 5 | Machata | 5 | GER 3 | 51.79 |
| 6 | Masklanas | 6 | LAT 1 | 51.84 |
| 7 | Baumann | 1 | SUI 1 | 51.85 |
| 8 | Melbardis | 18 | LAT 2 | 51.92 |
| 9 | Arndt | 8 | GER 2 | 51.95 |
| 10 | Rush | 9 | CAN 1 | 52.06 |
| 11 | Napier | 11 | USA 2 | 52.07 |
| 11 | van Calker | 20 | NED 1 | 52.07 |
| 13 | Loaker | 15 | AUT 1 | 52.10 |
| 14 | Spring | 16 | CAN 2 | 52.12 |
| 15 | Kupczyk | 13 | POL 1 | 52.27 |
| 16 | Bertazzo | 7 | ITA 1 | 52.29 |
| 17 | Peter | 19 | SUI 2 | 52.34 |
| 18 | Vrba | 14 | CZE 1 | 52.42 |
| 19 | Istrate | 17 | ROU 1 | 52.61 |
| 20 | Gorlachev | 3 | RUS 3 | 52.73 |
| 21 | Luty | 21 | POL 2 | 52.81 |
| 22 | Grigore | 22 | ROU 2 | 52.87 |
| 23 | Radjenovic | 23 | SRB 1 | 53.02 |
| 24 | Godefroy | 24 | FRA 1 | 53.34 |
