Great Britain’s Matt Weston missed out on a first win of the skeleton World Cup season by one hundredth of a second after finishing second in China on Saturday.
Germany’s Christopher Grotheer maintained his 100% start to the season, claiming a third consecutive victory at the Yanqing National Sliding Centre, near Beijing.
China’s Yin Zheng completed the podium, edging Britain’s Marcus Wyatt into fourth place.
Weston held a 0.11secs advantage over reigning Olympic champion Grotheer after the opening run of the men’s event, but the German came through strongly in the second run to win in an overall time of two minutes 1.93 seconds.
The Briton, who finished top of the overall standings last season, was third in the season’s opening two races.
Meanwhile, GB’s Freya Tarbit continued her fine start to the women’s skeleton season with a third-placed finish.
Tarbit, 24, who won gold in South Korea last weekend, was tied for first place alongside China’s Zhao Dan after the opening run.
But she dropped back at the end of her second run, finishing 0.41 seconds behind eventual winner Zhao.
Germany’s Hannah Niese, who won Olympic gold on this track in 2022, finished second, while GB’s Tabby Stoecker was fourth and team-mate Amelia Coltman 14th.