Gassner triumphed in the men’s skeleton event on a successful day for Germany in Switzerland, with world champion Tina Hermann winning the women’s competition.

The German duo took advantage of the absence of European skeleton champions Elena Nikitina and Alexander Tretyakov, with the Russians having opted to skip the event to prepare for the World Championships.

Latvian star Martins Dukurs led the men’s event after the opening run by clocking 1min 8.22sec, with Gassner 0.2 off the pace in second.

The positions were reserved in the second run with Gassner clocking 1:08.43 to finish with a combined time of 2:16.85.

His effort was narrowly faster than Dukurs, who finished just 0.01 back in second place.

Olympic champion Yun Sung-Bin of South Korea completed the podium positions in 2:17.32.

Yun was competing at his first event in 11 months due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Dukurs remains top of the World Cup standings with 1,320 points after four wins and two second place finishes in six races.

Gassner lies second on 1,171.

The women’s event saw Hermann back-up her second place finish in Winterberg last week with her first World Cup win of the season.

The German star achieved a time of 2:20.68 from her two runs, 0.32 faster than second placed Janine Flock of Austria.

Germany’s Jacqueline Loelling finished third in 2:21.54.

Flock has secured podium finishes in all six World Cup races this season, including six victories.

The Austrian star leads the women’s World Cup standing on 1,285 points, 90 clear of second placed Hermann.