From Sigulda, LAT
(January 1, 2022) – Rostislav Gaitiukevich has been the rising star of the Russian bobsled team for the past few years. On the first day of 2022 he solidified his spot atop the team’s pecking order with a gold medal in Sigulda.
Gaitiukevich entered the second heat just .01 behind Great Britain’s Brad Hall with both men looking for their nation’s first two-man gold medals in quite some time: For Russia their first in a decace, for Great Britain their first since 1986.
On their second run, Gaitiukevich and brakeman Mikhail Moradsov slid into the lead with only Hall to go. Hall, with brakeman Greg Cackett, had a strong start and a quick slide. Gaitiukevich’s drive was just a bit better, and was enough to hold off the Brit to win gold.
The gold for Gaitiukevich was his first in World Cup action. He had one gold medal in European Cup action in two-man bobsled.
The silver for Hall was his second in two-man bobsled, with the first in Igls two years prior.
Austria’s Benjamin Maier and Markus Sammer were in the hunt for gold but couldn’t quite match the pace of the two teams ahead of them. Their effort was enough for bronze, though, which was Maier’s sixth bronze of his career in two-man bobsled.
Canadians Justin Kripps and Ryan Sommer slid from sixth to fourth in the second heat on the strength of the quickest slide of any non-medalist. Simon Friedli and Andreas Haas finished fifth, while Johannes Lochner and Paul Krenz rounded out the top six.
Germany’s Francesco Friedrich was perfect for all of 2021 in both two-man and four-man bobsled. So far, 2022 has not been as good to him, as he was a non-issue in the first two-man race of the year. Friedrich and Alexander Schüller hit the wall at the start in both heats and couldn’t recover. Their eventual 12th place finish was Friedrich’s worst since the 2017/2018 season in Whistler.
Hunter Church led the way for the United States with a 16th place run. Church came into the second heat tied for 12th with Christoph Hafer but fell to 16th in his first race in Sigulda. Teammate Codie Bascue finished 19th after entering the second heat in a tie for 18th.
With three two-man races to go in the 2021/2022 season, Friedrich leads Gaitiukevich by 59. points. Kripps sits only nine points behind Gaitiukevich, while Lochner is just ten points behind Kripps.
Results:
| Pos | Names | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
| 1 | Gaitiukevich / Mordasov | RUS | 7 | 4.82 | 4.82 | 49.65 | 49.58 | 1:39.23 |
| 2 | Hall / Cackett | GBR | 10 | 4.88 | 4.88 | 49.64 | 49.69 | 1:39.33 |
| 3 | Maier / Sammer | AUT | 4 | 4.89 | 4.86 | 49.70 | 49.70 | 1:39.40 |
| 4 | Kripps / Sommer | CAN | 9 | 4.86 | 4.90 | 49.80 | 49.76 | 1:39.56 |
| 5 | Friedli / Haas | SUI | 11 | 4.88 | 4.87 | 49.79 | 49.82 | 1:39.61 |
| 6 | Lochner / Krenz | GER | 13 | 4.87 | 4.91 | 49.76 | 49.87 | 1:39.63 |
| 7 | Heinrich / Hauterville | FRA | 12 | 4.93 | 4.96 | 49.82 | 49.82 | 1:39.64 |
| 8 | Kibermanis / Springis | LAT | 15 | 4.89 | 4.88 | 49.86 | 49.87 | 1:39.73 |
| 9 | Won / Kim | KOR | 22 | 4.94 | 4.96 | 49.96 | 49.81 | 1:39.77 |
| 10 | Hafer / Ammour | GER | 8 | 4.98 | 5.00 | 49.93 | 49.85 | 1:39.78 |
| 11 | Cipulis / Kleinbergs | LAT | 1 | 4.89 | 4.92 | 50.04 | 49.78 | 1:39.82 |
| 12 | Friedrich / Schüller | GER | 5 | 4.77 | 4.80 | 49.81 | 50.03 | 1:39.84 |
| 13 | Vogt / Rolli | SUI | 6 | 4.89 | 4.93 | 49.86 | 50.05 | 1:39.91 |
| 14 | Andrianov / Lopin | RUS | 21 | 4.97 | 4.94 | 50.07 | 49.85 | 1:39.92 |
| 14 | Tentea / Daroczi | ROU | 14 | 4.94 | 5.05 | 49.88 | 50.04 | 1:39.92 |
| 16 | Church / Horn | USA | 2 | 4.95 | 4.97 | 49.93 | 50.10 | 1:40.03 |
| 17 | Li / Ding | CHN | 19 | 4.94 | 4.94 | 50.19 | 49.93 | 1:40.12 |
| 18 | Baumgartner / Mircea | ITA | 20 | 4.98 | 5.00 | 50.13 | 50.06 | 1:40.19 |
| 19 | Bascue / Valdes | USA | 16 | 4.95 | 5.01 | 50.19 | 50.03 | 1:40.22 |
| 20 | Sun / Shi | CHN | 3 | 4.91 | 4.94 | 50.29 | 50.04 | 1:40.33 |
| 21 | de Bruin / Franjic | NED | 23 | 5.00 | 50.32 | |||
| 22 | Treichl / Glück | AUT | 18 | 5.11 | 50.74 | |||
| DNS | Dvorak / Zalesky | CZE | 17 | DNS |
