So far, the season for Skeletoni Christopher Grotheer has been anything but ideal. But the knot seems to have broken just in time for the Olympics.
The 33-year-old made it to the podium for the first time this season at the World Cup in St. Moritz on Wednesday (January 7th) and at the same time secured a ticket for the Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo (February 6th to 22nd). Grotheer only had to admit defeat to overall World Cup leader Matt Weston from Great Britain and the Italian Amedeo Bagnis.
Weston was once again in a league of his own on the legendary natural ice rink in Switzerland and won by almost 1.3 seconds over Bagnis. It was already the fourth victory in the fifth race of the season for the Brit, who underlined his status as the big gold favorite at the Olympic Games. Grotheer was 1.5 seconds behind at the finish.
Grotheer gets into shape on time
Nevertheless, the Olympic champion in Beijing should be satisfied with his performance. So far this season there has been one setback after another. Handicapped by a torn muscle fiber during preparation, Grotheer only finished 15th, 21st and 16th in the first three races of the season. The closer the Winter Games get, the more he seems to be getting into shape.
Even before Christmas, he achieved fifth place in Sigulda. And in the replacement competition for the World Cup race in Winterberg last weekend, which was canceled due to excessive snow, the first podium was achieved.
National coach Baude: “Showed that he belongs there too”
“I’m very happy for Christopher that he is back on the podium after the last few difficult weeks. In the second run he showed with the second best running time and the top speed in the lower range that he belongs there too.”said national coach Christian Baude.
However, after second place in Lillehammer, Axel Jungk missed out on the podium again and finished sixth (+2.140 seconds). Felix Keisinger had to rank even further behind the Saxon in 16th place and Lukas Nydegger in a disappointing 25th place. There is another World Cup race for the men in St. Moritz on Friday, which will also be counted as the European Championship.
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