INNSBRUCK: Latvian slider Martins Dukurs won the European skeleton title for a third straight year Friday by earning his 50th career World Cup win. Dukurs, unbeaten on the 1976 Olympic track since 2009, posted the fastest time in both heats to beat Yun Sung-bin of South Korea by 0.15 seconds. Nikita Tregubov of Russia was 0.49 back in third, while Axel Jungk of Germany trailed by 0.97 in fourth. Having won the previous three races, Yun remained in the lead of the World Cup standings with 1,095 points, 49 ahead of Dukurs. The season’s fifth World Cup race also counted as the European Championship, with Tregubov taking the silver medal and Jungk the bronze. The women’s race was scheduled for later Friday.
Published in Daily Times, December 16th 2017.