Rzhanaya Polyana, Russia (SportsNetwork.com) - Russia's Alexander Tretiakov kept a big lead going into the final run of men's skeleton on Saturday.
Tretiakov had a comfortable .56-second lead after two runs on Friday. Latvia's Martins Dukurs trimmed it by .02 seconds with the fastest time among the third run Saturday, but was still a longshot to overtake the Russian.
The final run is coming up Saturday.
Matthew Antoine leapt U.S. teammate John Daly in the standings, moving into third place. Antoine was just .04 seconds ahead of his teammate.
The last U.S. medal in men's skeleton was Jim Shea Jr.'s gold in 2002, when the sport made its return to the Olympics at Salt Lake City after an absence of 54 years.
American Noelle Pikus-Pace earned silver in the women's competition Friday.
Tretiakov, who finished his third run in 56.28 seconds, earned the bronze in 2010 behind Canada's Jon Montgomery and the silver medalist Dukurs.
Dukurs' older brother, Tomass, was in fifth place -- .27 seconds behind Daly and .31 seconds out of medal contention.
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