“I realized yesterday that in the last four years, I haven’t really been out of the top six finishes in the World Cup since the 2004 race here in Winterberg, when I finished seventh,” Lund said. “So really, I’ve had a pretty great run of it, I’m happy, and I expected it to happen sometime. It’s hard to stay on top all of the time. I put everything I had into the race at Torino, Italy last week and for the World Championships, so I was pretty worn out.”

Bernotas had a first run of 58.22 seconds, setting him in third behind home track competitor Michi Halilovic and Canadian Jon Montgomery, who smashed the track record with a run of 58.08 for the lead after the first heat.

First run standings could not prediction final finishes in today’s race. Bernotas had the eleventh best time in the second heat with a 58.55 for a combined time of 1:56.77, keeping him on the podium with a sixth place finish. First and sixth were separated by only thirty-two hundredths of a second.

“This track is strange, because you’ll feel like you’re having a great run, but then you’ll finish and see the time and wonder, ‘What just happened?’” Lund said. “Eric slid well all week, but on this track, you just never know. He had a good race, and he gained some points back on me in the overall World Cup standings.”

Climbing four positions into the lead was Russian Alexander Tretiakov, who continued his streak of smashing start records on every track by breaking Winterberg’s push record twice today, with a 4.79 in the first heat and a 4.78 in the second. Winning his second gold medal ever, and fourth World Cup medal this season, Tretiakov finished with a combined time of 1:56.45 after runs of 58.30 and 58.15.

The only slider to maintain his first heat standing was Germany’s Halilovic, who finished in second with a total time of 1:56.48, only three one-hundreths from the gold, after a second run of 58.39. Taking the bronze was Latvia’s Martins Dukurs with a combined time of 1:56.59 after runs of 58.37 and 58.22.

World Cup leader Lund finished in thirteenth after runs of 58.22 and 58.55, both tenth best of the race, for a combined time of 1:57.01.

“I struggled all week,” Lund said. “It doesn’t take much to go fast here, so if you have a fast push, it’s easy to carry that speed to the finish. With my push, I just couldn’t compete with someone like Tretiakov.”

Chris Hedquist (Salt Lake City, Utah) placed twenty-second after a first run of 58.84 seconds, with fellow American Caleb Smith (Lake Placid, N.Y.) in twenty-sixth after a first heat time of 59.27. Only the top twenty finishers in the first heat are given a second run.

After today’s race, Lund continues to lead in overall World Cup standings with 553 points after having won four World Cup medals this season. Bernotas has 484 points for second in overall points after winning three medals this year. Hedquist is ranked eight with 256 points, and Smith is in fourteenth with 201 points.