BEIJING (AP) 鈥� Martins Dukurs of Latvia and Christopheer Grotheer of Germany have a slight difference of opinion at the midpoint of the men鈥檚 skeleton race at the Beijing Olympics.
Dukurs says Grotheer cannot be caught. Grotheer politely disagrees.
The standings after two runs suggest Dukurs might be right. Grotheer was the fastest in both heats Thursday at the Yanqing Sliding Center, leading fellow German slider Axel Jungk by seven-tenths of a second going into Friday鈥檚 final two slides.
Grotheer鈥檚 time was 2 minutes, 0.33 seconds. Jungk finished in 2:01.03 and Yan Wengang of China was third in 2:01.08.
鈥淢y big goal is to win a medal,鈥� Grotheer said. 鈥淭his track is so technical. If you do a mistake in the upper part, seven-tenths (can) go away.鈥�
Dukurs was a bit more succinct when asked if Grotheer can be caught.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think so,鈥� Dukurs said.
Russian sliders Alexander Tretiakov and Evgenly Rukosuev are tied for fourth, 0.87 seconds back of Grotheer. Dukurs 鈥� the 11-time World Cup overall champion and 61-time World Cup race winner who still doesn鈥檛 have an Olympic gold medal 鈥� is sixth, 0.91 seconds off the lead.
The way he sees it, the race is for silver now, with five sleds separated there by 0.21 seconds.
鈥淭wo-tenths, it鈥檚 nothing, and a lot,鈥� Dukurs said.
Andrew Blaser, the lone American in the field, made his Olympic debut and is 21st after two runs. He鈥檒l need to move up one spot in the third heat to qualify for the fourth run; everyone gets three heats, but only the top 20 move on to the final one.
He woke up about three hours before the race with this thought in mind: 鈥淗oly crap, you鈥檙e going to the Olympics,鈥� Blaser said.
Racing on his mother鈥檚 birthday 鈥� the family was watching from the U.S., some relatives wearing shirts with his face emblazoned on them 鈥� Blaser said just making the Olympic field felt like victory to him.
鈥淭he 70-hour work weeks and training and getting up at the break of dawn and doing all of those things 鈥� to me, that鈥檚 what made me an Olympian,鈥� Blaser said. 鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 winning a medal here. ... There鈥檚 so much more to it than the four minutes of racing. There鈥檚 four years of tears and blood and sweat and a lot more tears, hitting walls and the tenacity and the grind. It never stops for us.鈥�
Grotheer set the tone early, his lead of 0.36 seconds after the first run the largest in an Olympic skeleton race since 1928 鈥� when Jennison Heaton of the U.S. led by 1.2 seconds.
And in the second run, Grotheer basically doubled his margin.
鈥淚 had a really, really good first day,鈥� Grotheer said. 鈥淭he first one was brilliant and the second one was also really good.鈥�
Dukurs said the training runs leading up to the competition showed that Grotheer would be the one to catch.
鈥淗e鈥檚 sliding good, his equipment is running good and training showed he鈥檚 one of the favorites,鈥� Dukurs said. 鈥淚mmediately, I saw his runs and said, 鈥楬e鈥檚 No. 1.鈥欌��
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Tim Reynolds, The Associated Press
