The competition at the Olympiabobbahn track in Austria was also notable as, for the first time ever, three all female quartets competed at a men's event.

Latvia's Melbardis returned to the track where he won the World Championship title last year, winning in 1min 42.01sec with pushers Daumants Dreiskens, Arvis Vilkaste and Janis Strenga.

Swiss pilot Rico Peter guided his brake crew of Simon Friedli, Alex Baumann and Thomas Amrhein to second place in 1:42.06 after their two runs, as Vancouver 2010 Olympic champion Steven Holcomb collected bronze.

Pushed by Carlo Valdes, James Reed and Sam McGuffie, the American quartet finished in 1:42.07.

Russia's overall World Cup leader Alexander Kasjanov only finished ninth but still clung on to top spot on 1,275 points.

Peter has cut the gap, however, with the Swiss now second on 1,261.

Holcomb's team are third on 1,218.

Germany's Johannes Lochner, who won the previous World Cup event in Königssee, was disqualified for an illegal start.

The female crews were piloted by Canada's Kaillie Humphries, who has already tested herself in the four-man against the men, her compatriot Alysia Rissling and Romania's Maria Constantin.

They occupied the last three positions, coming home 29th, 30th and 31st respectively.

Pyeongchang in South Korea will host the next and final leg of the IBSF World Cup season, as a test event for the 2018 Winter Olympic Games.

Action will take place between March 17 and 19.