2016/2017 FIL World Cup – Men’s Luge – Race 1

From Winterberg, GER

There were five Germans in the men’s luge field, with big names like Loch, Langenhan and Palik in the mix. However, it was a Nations Cup qualifier who found his way to the top of the podium.

Johannes Ludwig seemed to have the right combination of weather and setup, putting down the fastest run in the first heat. His second run was significantly slower with the help of iffy ice conditions, but it was enough to hold off Russian Roman Repilov, who finished just under .2 back. Ludwig’s teammate Andi Langenhan finished with a bronze medal, just ahead of Felix Loch, who took fourth.

The top six was dominated by Russia and Germany, with Russians Semen Pavlichenko and Stepan Fedorov finishing fifth and sixth, respectively.

As it is in Winterberg seemingly more times than not, weather appeared to be a factor in the race’s final standings. Snow and rain (sometimes at the same time) came and went a few times in each run, with times varying wildly from slider to slider. The final third of the field all saw their second runs around .2 slower than their first, regardless of how clean the run looked. Ludwig’s run, for instance, was .37 slower despite almost identical looking runs.

American Chris Mazdzer came into the second run in 20th after a less than ideal effort, but a much better second run moved him up into the top 15 with an 11th place effort, making him the top-scoring North American in the field.

Mazdzer’s teammate Taylor Morris finished 20th.  Tucker West’s first downtime was good enough for third-fastest, but he was disqualified after Run 1 for being overweight.

Canadian Mitchel Malyk was the first slider out of the top 15 with a 16th place run, while Samuel Edney finished in 21st.

Results: