Hermann clinches maiden IBSF World Cup victory in Winterberg

Tina Hermann earned her maiden World Cup victory after two fast runs ©IBSF

Germany’s Tina Hermann celebrated her maiden International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF) World Cup victory after producing two fine runs in Winterberg, Germany.

Having been left frustrated at the opening skeleton event of the season last month in Altenberg, where she finished as the runner-up despite leading after the first run, Hermann was determined to avoid a repeat.

She once again held top spot at the midway point of the event after producing a time of 58.45sec down the track where she claimed silver at the German Championships earlier this year.

Hermann was slower in her second run but her combined total of 1min 57.87sec was enough to clinch the win.

Her compatriot Jacqueline Lölling finished second in 1:58.27.

“The first World Cup victory is liberating, unbelievable,” Hermann said.

“Now I know that I can also make two good runs.”

Britian’s Laura Deas, winner of the opening World Cup, missed out on the podium, finishing 0.21 seconds behind Canada's Jane Channell, who claimed the bronze medal in 1:58.75.

Following the result, Hermann secured the leadership of the overall World Cup standings on 435 points with Deas and Lölling completing the top three with scores of 417 and 410 points respectively.

Latvia’s Martins Dukurs claimed back-to-back men's World Cup wins ©IBSF

Meanwhile, Latvia’s Martins Dukurs continued to prove the man to beat as last year’s World Cup winner maintained his 100 per cent start to the new season.

The 31-year-old produced an opening time of 56.97 to hold a strong lead of 0.18 over Germany’s Axel Jungk, to leave him poised for back-to-back victories.

He was able to maintain his superiority over the field by setting the fastest time in the second run to end 0.56 ahead of his nearest rivals, finishing with a combined time of 1:54.73.

Jungk was forced to share the silver medal after a slower second time down the track saw him tie with Russia’s Alexander Tretiakov on a time of 1:55.29.

After winning the opening two events Dukurs extended his overall World Cup lead over Tretiakov, with the Latvia moving onto 450 points with the Olympic champion second on a total of 420.

Following his podium finish in front of a home crowd, Jungk now occupies third place on 402.