Germany, USA Win Medals in Opening FIL Sprint World Cup

From Winterberg, GER

(Nov. 26, 2017) The FIL Sprint World Cup kicked off with its opening leg in Winterberg, with both Germany and the United States finding themselves atop the podium.

Men’s Luge

In the men’s race, German Felix Loch sailed to a gold medal, finishing an impressive. .118 ahead of Russian Semen Pavlichenko. Austria’s Nico Gleirscher finished third, just barely edging out Ralf Palik of Germany.

Tucker West, the only North American to qualify for the sprint event, finished 15th.

Pos Name Nation Bib Start Speed Finish
1 Felix Loch GER 14 87.3 km/h 36.644
2 Semen Pavlihenko RUS 11 87.1 km/h 36.762
3 Nico Gleirscher AUT 4 87.0 km/h 36.790
4 Ralf Palik GER 10 87.0 km/h 36.807
5 Wolfgang Kindl AUT 8 85.4 km/h 36.837
6 Riks Rozitis LAT 3 72.7 km/h 36.851
7 Johannes Ludwig GER 5 86.8 km/h 36.861
8 Stepan Fedorov RUS 13 87.1 km/h 36.873
9 Theo Gruber ITA 7 86.6 km/h 36.904
10 Andi Langenhan GER 1 87.1 km/h 36.923
11 Kevin Fischnaller ITA 15 86.8 km/h 36.924
12 Ondrej Hyman CZE 2 84.9 km/h 37.042
13 Armin Frauscher AUT 9 82.8 km/h 37.279
14 David Gleirscher AUT 12 86.2 km/h 37.851
15 Tucker West USA 6 n/a 38.023

Women’s Luge

Emily Sweeney came very close to winning a gold medal in the World Cup full-course race earlier in the day, missing out after one mistake late in her second run. In the Sprint World Cup, though, she was golden and helped lead the USA to a 1-2 finish.

Sweeney and Winterberg World Cup bronze medalist Summer Britcher went gold-silver in the Sprint World Cup, with the gold medal for Sweeney being her first ever in FIL World Cup / Sprint World Cup action.

Natalie Geisenberger led the way for Germany with a bronze medal, just ahead of teammates Tatjana Hüfner and Julita Taubitz.

Canadian Alex Gough was the top finishing Canadian in eighth, while Kimberley McRae finished 13th. Erin Hamlin rounded out a strong American effort in 15th.

Pos Name Nation Bib Start Speed Finish
1 Emily Sweeney USA 8 74.5 km/h 39.598
2 Summer Britcher USA 13 74.6 km/h 39.642
3 Natalie Geisenberger GER 15 74.6 km/h 39.678
4 Tatjana Hüfner GER 14 73.5 km/h 39.697
5 Julia Taubitz GER 11 74.5 km/h 39.802
6 Martina Kocher SUI 4 74.1 km/h 39.819
7 Raluca Stramaturaru ROU 2 74.1 km/h 39.850
8 Alex Gough CAN 6 74.3 km/h 39.853
9 Dajana Eitberger GER 5 73.5 km/h 39.872
10 Tatyana Ivanova RUS 10 74.1 km/h 39.882
11 Birgit Platzer AUT 1 73.8 km/h 39.889
12 Eliza Cauce LAT 3 74.9 km/h 39.898
13 Kimberley McRae CAN 9 74.2 km/h 39.899
14 Sandra Robatscher ITA 7 69.9 km/h 39.903
15 Erin Hamlin USA 12 69.1 km/h 41.495

Doubles Luge

As they tend to do in doubles luge, German dominated the Sprint World Cup, sweeping the podium.

The team of Wendl & Arlt had the slowest start speed of any team on the podium, but managed to have the best run when it counted on their way to a Sprint World Cup gold medal, edging German teammates Eggert & Benecken and Geueke & Gamm.

The American duo of Mortensen & Terdiman were the top-scoring non-German team in fourth, while Latvians Sics & Sics finished fifth. Canadians Walker & Snith finished sixth, while the American team of Hyrns & Espinoza finished eighth.

Pos Names Nation Bib Start Speed Finish
1 Wendl / Arlt GER 14 70.2 km/h 31.622
2 Eggert / Benecken GER 15 72.4 km/h 31.649
3 Geueke / Gamm GER 13 72.4 km/h 31.667
4 Mortensen / Terdiman USA 11 70.9 km/h 31.681
5 Sics / Sics LAT 10 67.1 km/h 31.734
6 Walker / Snith CAN 8 72.1 km/h 31.788
7 Denisev / Antonov RUS 2 72.0 km/h 31.824
8 Hyrns / Espinoza USA 3 71.8 km/h 31.845
9 Bogdanov / Medvedev RUS 9 70.9 km/h 31.881
10 Rieder / Rastner ITA 12 72.1 km/h 31.913
11 Chmielewski / Kowalewski POL 7 72.3 km/h 31.959
12 Oberstolz / Gruber ITA 5 71.1 km/h 31.996
13 Gudramovics / Kalnins LAT 6 72.3 km/h 31.999
14 Broz / Broz CZE 4 72.1 km/h 32.019
15 Solcansky / Stuchlak SVK 1 67.1 km/h 32.145