Skeleton 2018/Men's skeleton

Men's skeleton
General information
Sport	Skeleton 2018
Date	15-16 February 2018
Competitors	30 athletes
Venue	Alpensia Sliding Centre
Previous medalists
Gold	Aleksandr Tretyakov
Silver	Martins Dukurs
Bronze	Matthew Antoine
Conditions
Temperature	Day 1: -3.9°C / 24.98°F Day 2: -2.5°C / 27.5°F
Length	1376 metres
Height	117 metres
Medalists
	Yun Sung-bin
	Nikita Tregubov
	Dominic Parsons

The men's skeleton of Skeleton 2018 during the 2018 Winter Olympics was held on 15-16 February 2018 in the Alpensia Sliding Centre. With 30 athletes competing, the event was won by Yun Sung-bin from South Korea, with Nikita Tregubov from Olympic Athletes from Russia taking the silver medal and Dominic Parsons from Great Britain taking bronze.

Format

The competition exists out of four runs over two consecutive days. The fastest 20 athletes after three runs are allowed to participate in the last (fourth) run. The competitor with the lowest aggregate time for all four runs is the winner.

Preview

Thirty athletes qualified for the event, with local hero Yun Sung-bin (number 1 in the rankings) and Latvian Martins Dukurs (two-time silver Olympic medalist) being the main favorites, although Germany was also well represented, with Axel Jungk, Christopher Grotheer and Alexander Gassner also contenders for a medal. Outsiders Tomass Dukurs and Nikita Tregubov had proven to be able to perform well, winning medals at the Olympic test event a year before.

Both the oldest competitor Dave Greszczyszyn and the youngest competitor Vladyslav Heraskevych, who are about 20 years apart, make their Olympic debut. The continent of Africa is represented for the first time, with Akwasi Frimpong representing Ghana, and Jamaica also participates for the first time, represented by Anthony Watson. Norway had participated only once before, this time Alexander Henning Hanssen competing. Eighteen out of thirty racers compete for the first time at an Olympic tournament. This is in sharp contrast to the brothers Dukurs, who are competing for the fourth time, with older brother Tomass already participating back at Salt Lake City 2002. Frimpong was chosen to carry the Ghanese flag during the opening ceremony of Pyeongchang 2018, due to the groundbreaking achievement of being the first athlete of the country to compete in skeleton.

Current Records

Record	Date	Nat.	Name	Time
TR	19 March 2017		Martins Dukurs	50.64

Summary

Run 1

The first run already caused a new track record. Yun Sung-bin broke the current track record with almost 0.4 seconds, while Russian Nikita Tregubov would have broken the track record as well, only 5 minutes later. Dom Parsons was able to finish 5th, after a slow start, and Korean Kim Ji-soo was able to get the 4th time, despite not being one of the pre-race favorites.

Run 1 Results
Rank	Nat.	Name	Time
1		Yun Sung-bin	50.28
2		Nikita Tregubov	50.59
3		Axel Jungk	50.77
4		Kim Ji-soo	50.80
5		Dom Parsons	50.85
5		Martins Dukurs	50.85
7		Tomass Dukurs	50.88
8		Rhys Thornbury	50.90
9		Alexander Gassner	51.05
9		Christopher Grotheer	51.05
11		Jerry Rice	51.06
12		Matt Antoine	51.16
13		John Daly	51.23
14		Vladyslav Heraskevych	51.26
15		Vladislav Marchenkov	51.27
16		Matthias Guggenberger	51.38
17		Alexander Henning Hanssen	51.44
18		Kevin Boyer	51.46
19		Geng Wenqiang	51.51
20		Katsuyuki Miyajima	51.63
21		John Farrow	51.64
21		Ander Mirambell	51.64
23		Dave Greszczyszyn	51.73
24		Joseph Luke Cecchini	51.88
25		Dorin Velicu	51.91
26		Barrett Martineau	51.94
27		Hiroatsu Takahashi	52.00
28		Adam Edelman	52.48
29		Anthony Watson	53.13
30		Akwasi Frimpong	53.97

Run 2

The second run not only featured a new track record, but also a new start record. Yun Sung-bin once again broke the track record, finishing 0.2 seconds faster than the time he set earlier on the day. He also broke the start record, breaking it by only 0.02 seconds. There were no real changes in the top of the standings, with Yun Sung-bin and Nikita Tregubov still covering first and second place, while Axel Jungk ran the 9th time of the second run, dropping from third to seventh place. Dom Parsons once again had a slow start, having the 20th fastest start time, eventually running the third time, rising to fourth place after the first day.

Run 2 Results
Rank	Nat.	Name	Time
1		Yun Sung-bin	50.07
2		Martins Dukurs	50.38
3		Dom Parsons	50.41
4		Nikita Tregubov	50.50
5		Tomass Dukurs	50.58
6		Kim Ji-soo	50.86
7		Geng Wenqiang	50.87
8		Matt Antoine	50.98
9		Axel Jungk	51.01
10		Rhys Thornbury	51.03
11		Christopher Grotheer	51.06
12		Alexander Gassner	51.08
13		Jerry Rice	51.15
13		John Daly	51.15
15		Vladyslav Heraskevych	51.16
16		Kevin Boyer	51.24
17		Matthias Guggenberger	51.29
18		John Farrow	51.31
18		Dave Greszczyszyn	51.31
20		Vladislav Marchenkov	51.49
21		Hiroatsu Takahashi	51.50
22		Alexander Henning Hanssen	51.51
22		Dorin Velicu	51.51
24		Barrett Martineau	51.76
25		Joseph Luke Cecchini	51.80
26		Ander Mirambell	52.06
27		Katsuyuki Miyajima	52.15
28		Adam Edelman	52.43
29		Anthony Watson	54.04
30		Akwasi Frimpong	54.46

Run 3

Yun Sung-bin proved his dominance once again, getting the fastest time of the third run. Nikita Tregubov, who was in second place after the third day, finished in the fifth fastest time, dropping to fourth place in the provisional standings, while Martins Dukurs and Dominic Parsons climbed up to second and third place, respectively.

Run 3 Results
Rank	Nat.	Name	Time
1		Yun Sung-bin	50.18
2		Martins Dukurs	50.32
3		Dom Parsons	50.33
4		Kim Ji-soo	50.51
5		Nikita Tregubov	50.53
6		Tomass Dukurs	50.65
6		Rhys Thornbury	50.65
8		Axel Jungk	50.83
9		Matt Antoine	50.91
10		Christopher Grotheer	51.01
11		Jerry Rice	51.04
11		Alexander Gassner	51.04
13		Vladislav Marchenkov	51.05
14		Kevin Boyer	51.14
15		Geng Wenqiang	51.18
16		Hiroatsu Takahashi	51.19
17		Vladyslav Heraskevych	51.21
18		John Daly	51.33
19		Alexander Henning Hanssen	51.37
20		John Farrow	51.40
21		Dave Greszczyszyn	51.57
22		Ander Mirambell	51.59
23		Barrett Martineau	51.70
24		Katsuyuki Miyajima	51.80
25		Matthias Guggenberger	51.81
26		Joseph Luke Cecchini	51.96
27		Dorin Velicu	52.02
28		Adam Edelman	52.35
29		Anthony Watson	53.35
30		Akwasi Frimpong	53.69

Run 4

Yun Sung-bin broke a record for the third time, breaking his own track record once again, dominating the men's skeleton by winning all four runs. Nikita Tregubov regained his second place, narrowly beating Dominic Parsons by only 0.02 of a second, while Martins Dukurs had the fifth-fastest time, dropping down to fourth place in the final ranking.

Run 4 Results
Rank	Nat.	Name	Time
1		Yun Sung-bin	50.02
2		Nikita Tregubov	50.56
3		Dom Parsons	50.61
4		Tomass Dukurs	50.63
5		Martins Dukurs	50.76
6		Kim Ji-soo	50.81
7		Vladyslav Heraskevych	50.84
8		Alexander Gassner	50.93
8		Christopher Grotheer	50.93
10		Jerry Rice	50.99
10		Axel Jungk	50.99
12		Geng Wenqiang	51.09
13		Matthias Guggenberger	51.25
14		Matt Antoine	51.34
15		Vladislav Marchenkov	51.37
16		John Farrow	51.53
17		Kevin Boyer	51.56
18		Alexander Henning Hanssen	51.57
19		John Daly	51.64
20		Rhys Thornbury	52.14

Results

Yun Sung-bin won the first (gold) medal ever for South Korea in a non-skating event, winning the men's skeleton in his home country. He was also the first Asian competitor to win a medal in skeleton. The other medalists, Nikita Tregubov and Dom Parsons, both won their first medal at their second appearance at the Olympic Games. The successful brothers Martins and Tomass Dukurs finished right behind the podium, with Martins missing out on three consecutive (silver) medals in the event, and Tomass failing to win his first medal at his fourth appearance, having finished fourth the previous two editions.

Result	Athlete	Nationality	Time
	Yun Sung-bin	South Korea	3:20.55
	Nikita Tregubov	Olympic Athletes from Russia	3:22.18
	Dom Parsons	Great Britain	3:22.20
4	Martins Dukurs	Latvia	3:22.31
5	Tomass Dukurs	Latvia	3:22.74
6	Kim Ji-soo	South Korea	3:22.98
7	Axel Jungk	Germany	3:23.60
8	Christopher Grotheer	Germany	3:24.05
9	Alexander Gassner	Germany	3:24.10
10	Jerry Rice	Great Britain	3:24.24
11	Matt Antoine	United States	3:24.39
12	Vladyslav Heraskevych	Ukraine	3:24.47
13	Geng Wenqiang	China	3:24.65
14	Rhys Thornbury	New Zealand	3:24.72
15	Vladislav Marchenkov	Olympic Athletes from Russia	3:25.18
16	John Daly	United States	3:25.35
17	Kevin Boyer	Canada	3:25.40
18	Matthias Guggenberger	Austria	3:25.73
19	John Farrow	Australia	3:25.88
20	Alexander Henning Hanssen	Norway	3:25.89
21	Dave Greszczyszyn	Canada	2:34.61
22	Hiroatsu Takahashi	Japan	2:34.69
23	Ander Mirambell	Spain	2:35.29
24	Barrett Martineau	Canada	2:35.40
25	Dorin Velicu	Romania	2:35.44
26	Katsuyuki Miyajima	Japan	2:35.58
27	Joseph Luke Cecchini	Italy	2:35.64
28	Adam Edelman	Israel	2:37.26
29	Anthony Watson	Jamaica	2:40.52
30	Akwasi Frimpong	Ghana	2:42.12