Zhao Dan of China finished in the second place in the women's skeleton event at the International Bobsleigh & Skeleton Federation (IBSF) World Cup in Beijing's Yanqing District on Friday, becoming the first World Cup medalist of China in this sport.

Zhao finished the first run in 1:01.63, the fastest of all athletes, but she didn't do well in the second run with 1:02.20. Four-time world champion Hermann Tina of Germany finished both runs in the second place (1:01.75 and 1:02.06 respectively), and won the gold 0.02 seconds ahead of Zhao.

The other Chinese women's skeleton racer Li Yuxi was in the seventh place with 2:04.61.

Germany's Grotheer Christopher, the men's skeleton gold medalist from the Winter Olympic Games in 2022, won the event's title in 2:01.20 at the World Cup in Yanqing. China's Chen Wenhao and Yan Wengang had the silver and the bronze medals respectively. Chen finished the two runs in 2:01.63. Yan did it in 2:01.68 and led in the first run with 1:00,71. Their compatriot Yin Zheng came in fifth.

"It's a pity that I missed the Winter Olympics in 2022, but it motivated me to train harder," Chen said. "Chinese athletes have been growing more and more mature in international competitions these days. We should have faith in them. I could do better in some details of my performance. There are still over two years before the next Winter Olympics in 2026, more than enough for me to improve my performance."

German pairs Lochner Johannes and Fleischhauer Georg, Friedrich Francesco and Schüller Alexander, won the 2-man bobsleigh gold and the silver respectively. Johannes and Georg (1:58.64) beat Francesco and Alexander (1:59.26) by 0.62 seconds.

The Yanqing National Sliding Center hosted the bobsleigh and the skeleton events during the Winter Olympics in 2022. The World Cup on Friday was the first major international tournament that happened in the venue since the Winter Games. The 4-man bobsleigh event will take place there on Saturday and Sunday.