2016/2017 FIL World Cup – Women’s Luge – Race 3

From Whistler, CAN

It’s been a strange week in Whistler. After a major snowstorm held up the truck carrying the tour’s sleds from Lake Placid, teams finally got their equipment on Friday. After a full day of training, and then even more snow in the afternoon, the women’s one-heat run finally happened under a heavy and steady snowfall.

Despite the snow, Whistler Sliding Center was fast and the track record coming into the race was under assault early. American Raychel Germaine was the first woman to break the track record with a 39.076. That time continued to fall until Alex Gough’s 38.796 set the pace for the remainder of the event. The top 12  broke the 39.192 former track record set by Victoria Demchenko set in 2014.

Gough took gold in the one heat race, ahead of German Natalie Geisenberger. Geisenberger finished just .002 ahead of teammate Tatjana Hüfner, who finished in the bronze medal position.

American Emily Sweeney finished fourth, ahead of German Dajana Eitberger and American Erin Hamlin, who rounded out the top six.

It was a successful night all around for the United States. Despite not finishing with a top-three, Summer Britcher finished seventh and Germaine 11th, with all four American women finishing under the former track record.

Results:

Pos Name Nation Bib Start Time
1 Alex Gough CAN 18 3.356 38.796
2 Natalie Geisenberger GER 22 3.369 38.848
3 Tatjana Hüfner GER 21 3.371 38.850
4 Emily Sweeney USA 16 3.422 38.940
5 Dajana Eitberger GER 20 3.419 38.981
6 Erin Hamlin USA 14 3.434 38.990
7 Summer Britcher USA 24 3.406 39.013
8 Ekaterina Baturina RUS 12 3.408 39.039
9 Tatyana Ivanova RUS 19 3.395 39.052
10 Eliza Cauce LAT 13 3.379 39.071
11 Raychel Germaine USA 7 3.438 39.076
12 Birgit Platzer AUT 15 3.434 39.161
13 Julia Taubitz GER 17 4.453 39.208
14 Miriam Kastlunger AUT 8 3.451 39.239
15 Ulla Zirne LAT 11 3.481 39.272
16 Sandra Robatscher ITA 5 3.431 39.420
17 Ewa Kuls POL 10 3.437 39.430
18 Andrea Vötter ITA 3 4.478 39.442
19 Kimberley McRae CAN 23 3.406 39.518
20 Olena Stetskiv UKR 4 3.459 39.786
21 Tereza Noskova CZE 6 3.496 40.024
22 Daria Obratov CRO 1 3.479 40.113
23 Olena Shkhumova UKR 2 3.468 40.309
DNS Ekaterina Katnikova RUS 9 DNS