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ST. MORITZ, Switzerland (AP) -- Two-time Olympic bronze medalist Gregor Staehli won the skeleton gold medal at the World Bobsled and Skeleton Championships on Saturday for his second world title.
The 38-year-old Swiss veteran had four runs for a combined time of 4 minutes, 36.26 seconds.
Eric Bernotas was second in 4.37.84, while U.S. teammate Zach Lund came third in 4.37.97.
"I could never have imagined winning this title by such a huge margin," Staehli said.
Staehli had retired after winning his first worlds gold in 1994 at Altenberg, Germany, but returned five years later. He won bronze at the 2002 and 2006 Olympics and has seven worlds medals.
Lund was the world's top-ranked men's slider last season before a positive doping test triggered by an anti-baldness medication ruled him out of the Turin Games in February.
He is leading the World Cup standings this season.
Andre Lange and Kevin Kuske of Germany took the lead after the opening two heats of the two-man bobsled competition with a combined time of 2:13.17. The final two heats are Sunday.
Simone Bertazzo and Samuele Romanini of Italy were second with 2:13.28. Ivo Rueegg and Alexandr Stretltsov of Switzerland were third in 2:13.49.
American pair Steve Holcomb and Brock Kreitzburg, who lead the World Cup standings, were fourth in 2:13.74 after being hampered by gusty winds at the start.
Stephen Bosch and Alex Sprague were 14th after the first run, but were disqualified after crashing in the second.
(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) APTV-01-27-07 1344MST
