Bob Skeleton: Clinical finishing wins 'Dr Ice' World Cup

Kristan Bromley yesterday won the second World Cup of his career after finishing sixth in the final race of the World Cup series, in Winterberg, Germany.

First place went to Martins Dukurs from Latvia but with a total of 1,583 points Bromley's consistent performances put him on top of the final leaderboard – raising hopes of British medals at the Vancouver Winter Olympics in 2010.

"I'm delighted to be flying the flag for the UK," he said yesterday. "This victory will hopefully show there are medals to be won at the Winter Olympics."

His win is all the more noteworthy for the fact that all his closest competitors had both home track and home support advantages throughout the World Cup Series that Bromley – who first won the title in 2004 – could only dream about.

Skeleton has been the overriding success story for British winter sport over the last few years, with medals at the last two Olympics – Alex Coomber's at Salt Lake City in 2002 and Shelley Rudman's silver in Turin four years later.

Although Bromley – or "Dr Ice", as he is known, thanks to his PhD from the University of Nottingham – finished only fifth in Turin, he has otherwise lived up to all expectations, winning his third European title in a row last month. And with Adam Pengilly winning European bronze and Ant Sawyer finishing in fourth place, British skeleton is clearly in a robust condition.