At the end of the skeleton season, Dukur had planned to go to the United States in March to run a training camp on the Lake Placid track, but the rapid spread of the Covid-19 virus has led to caution, leading to “painful” but correct decisions.
“On the one hand, the pandemic does not affect me much, because I am not too public and I spend more time with my family,” Dukurs told the newspaper. “On the other hand, in the middle of March I had planned to go to train at Lake Placid. At first I even thought I could do everything according to plan. The flight from Europe was for me to Montreal, and by land I could have entered America and gone to Lake Placid. it’s good that I didn’t leave because the track was closed. “
“My sledges have already traveled to Montreal, but I haven’t received them back yet. Not so easy, because for reasons of economy I had not arranged flights through one airline. I would fly to Paris with airBaltic, but to Montreal with Air France. Now I have time to recover the money you have made. I have already recovered 80%. “
The athlete did not hide that 1,500 euros paid for the delivery of the sleigh to North America have been lost. It will also not be possible to recover the price paid for the flight from Paris to Montreal, because the flight took place.
“If I went to Lake Placid, the problem would probably be even more. There would be a stuck there … The track would have already been locked, but the sleigh with the whole box would have already been picked up. skeletonist.
“At that time I was still hesitant, because everything in the USA was still relatively calm, but then the situation got a little worse and I thought to myself – well, no, you don’t have to look for adventures.”
Dukurs also did not hide the surprise that the first stage of the next season of the World Cup will take place in Sigulda, because earlier it was said in these circles that Sochi would start the new season. The skeletonist admitted the possibility that the protracted doping scandal played a role.
“It is better that the stage in Sigulda is the last … I have noticed that in the first matches I have not yet caught the right rhythm, and in terms of technology, the search is still going on at that time.”
It has already been reported that in May of this year, the homologation of the Olympic track was planned for the representatives of Renaissance sports in Beijing, however, due to the rapid spread of the Covid-19 virus, the test runs were postponed to the autumn. Among the “testers” of the track will most likely be the titled Dukurs.
This year, Dukurs won the fourth place in the World Championship and for the first time since 2009 was left without a medal. He triumphed in the World Cup overall for the ninth time, but was crowned European Champion for the 11th time.
Dukurs ended the World Cup season in Sigulda with success. Before the Sigulda stage, Dukurs won two of the seven competitions of the season – in Egls and St. Moritz. He also holds three second places – two in Lake Placid and one in Lapland – as well as fourth and seventh places in Winterberg and Königssee. Thomas Dukurs was without a podium before Sigulda this season, but finished three times in the first six, beating his brother in Köngisz.
The sports calendar of the 2020/2021 World Cup season includes eight stages on different tracks in six countries on three continents.
In Sigulda, which in February 2020 hosted the last stage of last season’s World Cup on a track full of fans, the opening event of the competition will take place next season from November 23 to 29, 2020.
The World Cup series will continue from December 7 to 13 on the Igls track in the Austrian city of Innsbruck and from December 14 to 20 on the German track in Altenberg.
In Germany, two more stages will take place after the new year. From January 4 to 10, athletes will compete in Winterberg, and from January 18 to 24 in Königsze, in the middle of the only natural track in the World Cup series on the Swiss track in St. Moritz, where the competition will take place from January 11 to 17.
This time the season will not end with the World Championship, as it will be held on Lake Placid in the USA from February 1 to 14.
After that, athletes will also be competing on another US track in Park City from February 15 to 20, and after the training runs from February 25 to March 7, the World Cup season from March 8 to 14 will end on the 2022 Olympic track in Beijing.
