Latvia’s Martins Dukurs secured his eighth successive overall IBSF World Cup triumph after winning the final men’s skeleton race of the season at the Alpensia Sliding Centre in Pyeongchang today ©Getty Images

Latvia’s Martins Dukurs secured his eighth successive overall International Bobsleigh and Skeleton (IBSF) World Cup triumph after winning the final men’s skeleton race of the season at the Alpensia Sliding Centre in Pyeongchang today.

The 32-year-old clocked a two-run time of 1min 41.51sec, beating South Korean home favourite Yun Sungbin by a margin of just 0.01sec.

His second run time of 50.64 saw him better Yun’s 50.69 from the first and earn him the record on the track due to be used at next year's Winter Olympic Games.  

Dukurs’ older brother Tomass finished 0.65 back in third.

In the overall standings, Martins Dukurs ended with a 39-point lead over Yun who like last year finished second.

Olympic champion Alexander Tretiakov of Russia finished fourth in Pyeongchang to move ahead of Germany’s Axel Jungk, a seventh-place finisher today, into third overall.

"It was an interesting challenge," world and European champion Martins Dukurs told Yonhap after securing his fourth win of the season.

"I wouldn't say my second run was good or perfect, but at least better than the first.

"Yun maybe made more mistakes in the second run.

"That's sport."

Germany's Jacqueline Lölling, centre of back row, claimed her third women's skeleton victory of the season to seal the overall World Cup ©IBSF
Germany's Jacqueline Lölling, centre of back row, claimed her third women's skeleton victory of the season to seal the overall World Cup ©IBSF

In the women’s event, world and European champion Jacqueline Lölling brought her pre-Olympic season to the perfect end with her third win of the campaign and victory in the overall World Cup for the first time. 

Lölling posted a time of 1:45.68 to win with a 0.30-second advantage over the field and also secured the first Olympic track record with the fastest run of 52.75.

Russia’s Elena Nikitina, bronze medallist at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics, secured the start record of 4.92 on her way to finishing second and equaled her best result since the World Cup race in Calgary in November 2013.

The surprise performance of the World Cup finale came courtesy of The Netherlands’ Kimberley Bos, who finished 0.35 seconds back in third.

She pushed Olympic champion Lizzy Yarnold of Great Britain out of the medal positions to secure her country’s first-ever World Cup podium finish in skeleton.

Lölling tops the final overall standings on 1,591 points, with last season’s winner Tina Hermann of Germany second on 1,493 and Canada’s Mirela Rahneva third on 1,475.

Rahneva managed to push Austria’s Janine Flock into fourth place overall after finishing fifth in Pyeongchang.

Hermann finished ninth today.

Action in Pyeongchang is due to continue tomorrow with the two-man bobsleigh and women’s bobsleigh events.