FIBT World Championships 2008

The FIBT World Championships 2008 ran February 11–24, 2008 in Altenberg, Germany for the fifth time, having done so in 1991 (bobsleigh), 1994 (skeleton), 1999 (skeleton), and 2000 (men's bobsleigh). It is the first time Altenberg has hosted all of the events at one championship. Training for the events took place February 12–14 for two-man and two-woman bobsleigh, and February 19–20 for skeleton and four-man bobsleigh.

Official logo of the FIBT World Championships 2008.

Non-competitive events
  • Practice for men's and women's bobsleigh was cancelled on February 12 to fog and moist air which affected track visibility. Additional training took place on the 13th.[1]

Bobsleigh

Two man

February 16–17, 2008. 30 sleds were scheduled to compete.[1] 26 sleds finished with one team disqualified after the first run, one team not finishing the second run, and two teams not starting after the third run.[2] Lange and Kuske won their third two-man world championship and fifth overall.[3]

Pos Team Time
Gold  Germany (André Lange, Kevin Kuske) 3:40.58
Silver  Germany (Thomas Florschuetz, Mirko Paetzold) + 1.06
Bronze  Russia (Alexandre Zoubkov, Alexey Voevoda) + 1.39

Four man

February 23–24, 2008. 24 sleds competed with 20 finishing. Lange swept both events with the fastest times in each heat.[4] It was his second sweep at the FIBT World Championships, having done so in 2003 and his third overall, counting the 2006 Winter Olympics.[5]

Pos Team Time
Gold  Germany (André Lange, René Hoppe, Kevin Kuske, Martin Putze) 3:36.26
Silver  Russia (Alexander Zubkov, Roman Oreshnikov, Dmitry Trunenkov, Dmitriy Stepushkin) +2.02
Bronze  Germany (Matthias Höpfner, Ronny Listner, Thomas Pöge, Alex Mann) +2.59

Two woman

February 15–16, 2008. 25 sleds were scheduled to compete.[1] 23 sleds actually did with one withdrawing after the first run, one withdrawing after the second run, and two crashing out during the fourth run.[6] This event marks the first ever sweep in the bobsleigh part of the championships' history and only the second time ever in any event in the championships' history with Austria being the first to do so in skeleton at Igls in 1991. Counting the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, this is Kiriasis's fourth straight World or Olympic championships in this event.[7] Several crashes occurred the two-day event.[7]

Pos Team Time
Gold  Germany (Sandra Kiriasis, Romy Logsch) 3:49.50
Silver  Germany (Cathleen Martini, Janine Tischer) + 0.26
Bronze  Germany (Claudia Schramm, Nicole Herschmann) + 1.12

Skeleton

Men

February 21–22, 2008. Bromley is the first British athlete to win a world championship since 1965.[8] Changing ice conditions complicated the sliding, causing five top sliders to leave their starting grooves.[8]

Pos Athlete Time
Gold  Kristan Bromley (GBR) 3:54.71
Silver  Jon Montgomery (CAN) +0.68
Bronze  Frank Rommel (GER) +0.74

Women

February 22–23, 2008. Huber won her second gold of the while Uhlaender won her second medal of the championships.[9] It was Germany's fourth gold at the championships.[10]

Pos Athlete Time
Gold  Anja Huber (GER) 4:02.78
Silver  Katie Uhlaender (USA) +0.30
Bronze  Kerstin Jürgens (GER) +1.12

Mixed team

February 18, 2008. Six teams took part in the event. Germany won their second gold medal in these championships.[11][12]

Pos Team Time
Gold  Germany (Sebastian Haupt, Sandra Kiriasis, Berit Wiacker, Anja Huber, Matthias Höpfner, Alex Mann) 3:57.20
Silver  Canada (Jon Montgomery, Kaillie Humphries, Jenni Hucul, Michelle Kelly, Lyndon Rush, Nathan Cross) + 1.78
Bronze  United States (Zach Lund, Erin Pac, Emily Azevedo, Katie Uhlaender, Steven Holcomb, Curtis Tomasevicz) + 1.87

Medal table
RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 Germany (GER)52411
2 Great Britain (GBR)1001
3 Canada (CAN)0202
4 Russia (RUS)0112
 United States (USA)0112
Totals (5 nations)66618

References
  1. Training Postponed at World Championship at the Fédération Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganing
  2. Two-man bobsleigh World Championships results. - accessed February 17, 2008.
  3. Lange and Kuske Defend 2-Man Title
  4. Four-man bobsleigh world championships results. - accessed February 24, 2008.
  5. Lange Sweeps World Bobsleigh Titles at the Fédération Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganing
  6. Two-woman bobsleigh final results - accessed February 16, 2008.
  7. Kiriasis Leads Sweep for Germany at the Fédération Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganing
  8. Bromley Wins Bauhaus World Skeleton Title at the Fédération Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganing
  9. Women's skeleton world championship results - accessed February 23, 2008.
  10. Huber Wins Women's Skeleton Gold medal at the Fédération Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganing
  11. "FIBT mixed team World Championship results" (PDF). - accessed February 22, 2008.
  12. Germany Wins FIBT Team Event at the Fédération Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganing
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