Defending champion Martins Dukurs of Latvia claimed his sixth title in the men's skeleton event ©IBSF

Defending champion Martins Dukurs of Latvia and Germany's Tina Hermann converted their overnight leads into gold in the men's and women's skeleton events respectively at the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation World Championships in Whistler.

Dukurs secured his sixth world title with a commanding performance at the Whistler Sliding Centre, clocking a combined time of 3min 28.11sec to beat Russian Nikita Tregubov by 0.51sec.

The Latvian set a track record of 51.91 in the second heat and was the quickest slider in all four runs.

Olympic champion Yun Sung-bin launched a valiant comeback as he took the bronze medal despite being down in sixth place at the halfway stage of the competition.

The South Korean completed his four runs in 3:28.99.

Victory for Dukurs saw him add another world crown to the five he had previously claimed before he arrived in the Canadian city.

The Latvian also topped the podium in the event in 2011, 2012, 2015, 2016 and 2017.

Hermann sealed her second individual World Championships gold medal as she followed her triumph in the 2016 event by leading a clean sweep for the German team.

The 27-year-old finished her four heats in 3:33.03, 0.38 faster than compatriot and defending champion Jacquelline Lölling.

Lölling, silver medallist at last year's Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, was unable to usurp her team-mate despite setting a track record of 53.10 in the final run.

Tina Hermann led a podium sweep for Germany in the women's skeleton event ©IBSF
Tina Hermann led a podium sweep for Germany in the women's skeleton event ©IBSF

Sophia Griebel rounded off the dominant display from the German women by claiming bronze in 3:34.20.

Hermann moved level with Switzerland's Maja Pedersen as the most successful woman in skeleton at the World Championships as both athletes have two golds and a silver to their name.

Pilot Oskars Kibermanis of Latvia is in pole position for the four-man bobsleigh title as he leads at the midway point of the event.

Kibermanis, Matiss Miknis, Arvis Vilkaste and Janis Strenga broke the track record in their opening run as they crossed the line in 50.05.

The Latvian quartet then clocked 50.64 to lead on a combined time of 1:40.69.

Just fourth tenths of a second separate the top six, with defending champion and recently-crowned two-man gold medallist Francesco Friedrich of Germany a mere 0.04 adrift in silver medal position.

Benjamin Maier, Kilian Walch, Markus Sammer and Danut Moldovan of Austria are third going into the final two runs tomorrow.