Martins Dukurs
Martins Dukurs (born 31 March 1984) is a Latvian skeleton racer who has competed since 1998. He is the reigning and six-time in total world champion in men's skeleton[2], a double Olympic silver winner (at Vancouver 2010 and Sochi 2014), and the athlete with the most World Cup titles, having won eight consecutive titles between 2010 and 2017, plus one additional title in 2020.
 Dukurs in 2013 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Latvian |
| Born | 31 March 1984 Rīga, Latvia[1] |
| Height | 1.79 m (5 ft 10 in) |
| Weight | 77 kg (170 lb) |
| Sport | |
| Country | Latvia |
| Sport | Skeleton |
| Turned pro | 1998 |
Medal record
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Career
Dukurs finished seventh in the men's skeleton event at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin and sixth in the men's skeleton event at the 2007 FIBT World Championships in St. Moritz. He won the gold medal in the men's event at the 2011 FIBT World Championships, 2012 FIBT World Championships, 2015 FIBT World Championships, 2016 FIBT World Championships and 2017 FIBT World Championships.
Martins won the overall World Cup for the 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16 season and 2016–17 season.
At the end of the 2016–17 Skeleton World Cup season he had 48 World Cup race victories.
His older brother Tomass is also a skeleton racer. Both he and his brother qualified for the 2010 Winter Olympics and the 2014 Winter Olympics. In 2010 Martins Dukurs was decorated with the Order of the Three Stars.[3]
In November 2017 Sochi gold medalist Alexander Tretiakov was disqualified by the IOC and his medal stripped from him; however a decision on whether Martins Dukurs would be granted a gold medal was not made by the IBSF. He would have been the first ever Latvian athlete to win gold at the Winter Olympics. However, Tretiakov would appeal against his disqualification to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, who overturned his disqualification and reinstated his gold medal.
On 19 January 2018 Martins was retroactively disqualified from the 2018 St. Moritz World Cup for having a too hard sled.[4]
Martins and Tomass' father, Dainis Dukurs, is a former bobsleigh brakeman, former manager of the Sigulda sledding track, sled designer and coach of the Latvian skeleton team.[5]
Career results
Skeleton World Cup
| Season | Place | Points | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004–05 | 19th | 139 | WIN 37 |
ALT 20 |
IGL — |
SIG 14 |
CES 10 |
STM 19 |
LPL 13 | ||
| 2005–06 | 20th | 151 | CAL 26 |
LPL 10 |
IGL 20 |
SIG 20 |
KON 16 |
STM 14 |
ALT 19 | ||
| 2006–07 | 12th | 255 | CAL 18 |
PKC 23 |
LPL 24 |
NAG 15 |
IGL 9 |
CES — |
WIN 3 |
KON 5 | |
| 2007–08 | 5th | 1369 | CAL 7 |
PKC 11 |
LPL 4 |
CES1 7 |
CES2 7 |
STM 6 |
KON 11 |
WIN 1 | |
| 2008–09 | 6th | 1282 | WIN 3 |
ALT 2 |
IGL 3 |
KON 4 |
STM 17 |
WIN 12 |
PKC 11 |
LKP 11 | |
| 2009–10 | 1st | 1694 | PKC 1 |
LKP 3 |
CES 2 |
WIN 1 |
ALT 5 |
KON 1 |
STM 3 |
IGL 1 | |
| 2010–11 | 1st | 1719 | WHI 5 |
CAL 1 |
PKC 3 |
LKP 2 |
IGL 1 |
WIN 1 |
STM 1 |
CES 1 | |
| 2011–12 | 1st | 1751 | IGL 1 |
LPL 1 |
WIN 1 |
ALT 1 |
KON 6 |
STM 1 |
WHI 1 |
CAL 1 | |
| 2012–13 | 1st | 2010 | LKP 1 |
PKC 1 |
WHI 2 |
WIN 1 |
LPL 1 |
ALT 1 |
KON 1 |
IGL 1 |
SOC 1 |
| 2013–14 | 1st | 1720 | CAL 1 |
PKC 2 |
LKP 8 |
WIN 1 |
STM1 1 |
STM2 1 |
IGL 1 |
KON 1 | |
| 2014–15 | 1st | 1770 | LKP 1 |
CAL 1 |
ALT 1 |
KON 2 |
STM 1 |
LPL 1 |
IGL 1 |
SOC 2 | |
| 2015–16 | 1st | 1785 | ALT 1 |
WIN 1 |
KON1 1 |
LPL 1 |
PAC 1 |
WHI 1 |
STM 2 |
KON2 1 | |
| 2016–17 | 1st | 1662 | WHI 4 |
LPL 5 |
ALT 2 |
WIN 1 |
STM 1 |
KON 6 |
IGL 1 |
PYE 1 | |
| 2017–18 | 4th | 1440 | LPL 1 |
PAC 2 |
WHI 6 |
WIN 2 |
IGL 1 |
ALT 5 |
STM DSQ |
KON 2 | |
| 2018–19 | 3rd | 1533 | SIG 2 |
WIN 7 |
ALT 7 |
IGL 1 |
STM 8 |
LPL 2 |
CAL1 3 |
CAL2 4 | |
| 2019–20 | 1st | 1665 | LKP1 2 |
LKP1 2 |
WIN 4 |
PAC 2 |
IGL 1 |
KON 7 |
STM 1 |
SIG 1 |
References
- "Martins Dukurs". SR/Olympics. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 26 July 2012.
- "Martins Dukurs becomes skeleton world champion for 6th time". eng.lsm.lv. Latvian Public Broadcasting. 9 March 2019. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
- "Starkovam un olimpiskajiem medaļniekiem — Triju Zvaigžņu ordeņi" (in Latvian). Sportacentrs.com. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
- "Yun chalks up a Korean first with World Cup skeleton title". Reuters. 19 January 2018. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
- "Martins Dukurs – 2014 Winter Olympics – Olympic Athletes – Sochi, Russia". espn.go.com. Retrieved 27 January 2014.
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Martins Dukurs. |
- Martins Dukurs at the International Bobsleigh & Skeleton Federation
- Martins Dukurs at the International Olympic Committee
- Martins Dukurs at Olympics at Sports-Reference.com (archived)
- Martins Dukurs at Skeletonsport.com at the Wayback Machine (archived 28 September 2007)
| Olympic Games | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Artūrs Irbe |
Flagbearer for  Vancouver 2010 |
Succeeded by Sandis Ozoliņš |