2016/2017 FIL World Cup – Women’s Luge – Race 7

From Oberhof, GER

The sport of luge prides itself on how close its racing can be, and the timing to a thousandth of a second is indicative of that. In Oberhof, that timing was also how a winner was determined.

Germany had dominated the first half of the weekend in Oberhof, and it was clear the women’s luge gold medal would also belong to Germany. The only question was to whom would it belong?

Coming into the second run, Tatjana Hüfner had a slight lead over her teammate Natalie Geisenberger. On that second run Geisenberger broke the track record, putting the pressure on Hüfner. Hüfner was faster than her first run, but only the third quickest in the heat, giving the gold medal to Geisenberger.

The win was Geisenberger’s fourth of the season, and third in four races. Hüfner’s silver was her second in three races.

Tatyana Ivanova helped keep the Germans from sweeping the podium with a third place finish, finishing just ahead of Dajana Eitberger. Eitberger came into the second run in 14th, but a blistering second trip down moved her up to fourth place.

Canadian Kimberley McRae finished fifth as the top North American, while Miriam Kastlunger finished sixth.

Summer Britcher led the way for the United States. She came into her second run in fourth place, but struggled on that second run, falling to seventh. Teammate Erin Hamlin moved up from 12th to eighth to help put two Americans in the top 10. Emily Sweeney finished 12th, and Raychel Germaine 24th to round out the American effort.

Alex Gough finished 10th as the second Canadian effort.

Results:

Pos Name Nation Bib Start 1 Start 2 Run 1 Run 2 Total
1 Natalie Geisenberger GER 23 6.805 6.801 41.287 41.101 1:22.388
2 Tatjana Hüfner GER 24 6.737 6.723 41.248 41.141 1:22.389
3 Tatyana Ivanova RUS 22 6.778 68.837 41.386 41.283 1:22.669
4 Dajana Eitberger GER 10 6.872 6.857 41.601 41.112 1:22.713
5 Kimberley McRae CAN 16 6.810 6.810 41.510 41.395 1:22.905
6 Miriam Kastlunger AUT 14 6.892 6.902 41.497 41.452 1:22.949
7 Summer Britcher USA 13 6.898 6.902 41.488 41.472 1:22.960
8 Erin Hamlin USA 21 6.870 6.877 41.566 41.397 1:22.963
9 Eliza Cauce LAT 15 6.823 6.849 41.503 41.470 1:22.973
10 Alex Gough CAN 19 6.806 6.793 41.553 41.432 1:22.985
11 Ekaterina Baturina RUS 12 6.862 6.834 41.627 41.377 1:23.004
12 Emily Sweeney USA 20 6.872 6.894 41.536 41.490 1:23.026
13 Julia Taubitz GER 9 6.867 6.855 41.599 41.430 1:23.029
14 Aileen Frisch KOR 3 6.878 6.867 41.527 41.541 1:23.068
15 Birgit Platzer AUT 17 6.912 6.919 41.548 41.568 1:23.116
16 Victoria Demchenko RUS 11 6.882 6.880 41.636 41.511 1:23.147
17 Ewa Kuls POL 8 6.856 6.856 41.627 41.541 1:23.168
18 Martina Kocher SUI 18 6.822 6.816 41.745 41.597 1:23.342
19 Ulla Zirne LAT 5 6.982 6.994 41.717 41.670 1:23.387
20 Andrea Vötter ITA 6 6.940 6.874 41.821 41.591 1:23.420
21 Kendija Aparjode LAT 7 6.950 6.963 41.660 41.874 1:23.534
22 Ekaterina Katnikova RUS 4 6.918 6.906 41.811 41.778 1:23.589
23 Brooke Apshkrum CAN 2 6.929 6.926 42.040 41.818 1:23.858
24 Raychel Germaine USA 1 7.042 6.984 42.281 42.424 1:24.705