Germany Sweeps Women’s Luge Podium

From Altenberg, GER

(Dec. 3, 2017) The German women dominated the women’s luge event in Altenberg, taking all three podium spots and placing all four women in the top six.

Natalie Geisenberger was the class of the field, breaking the track record in her second run on her way to a .157 second win over Tatjana Hüfner. Hüfner came into the second run just .002 behind Geisenberger, but Geisenberger was perfect on her second trip down the Altenberg track to solidify her gold medal.

Dajana Eitberger finished third to finish out the all-German podium.

Alex Gough of Canada finished fourth, while Tatyana Ivanova of Russia and Julia Taubitz of Germany rounded out the top six.

Summer Britcher led a solid American effort finishing seventh. Teammates Erin Hamlin and Emily Sweeney finished ninth and eleventh, respectively.

Kimberley McRae moved up from 20th to finish 16th on the second Canadian sled.

Results:

Pos Name Nation Bib Start 1 Start 2 Run 1 Run 2 Total
1 Natalie Geisenberger GER 24 5.505 5.499 52.205 52.036 1:44.241
2 Tatjajna Hüfner GER 21 5.451 5.503 52.207 52.191 1:44.398
3 Dajana Eitberger GER 20 5.513 5.506 52.348 52.385 1:44.733
4 Alex Gough CAN 22 5.573 5.538 52.488 52.319 1:44.807
5 Tatyana Ivanova RUS 23 5.484 5.486 52.447 52.364 1:44.811
6 Julia Taubitz GER 19 5.589 5.586 52.502 52.431 1:44.933
7 Summer Britcher USA 12 5.551 5.556 52.533 52.418 1:44.951
8 Sandra Robatscher ITA 6 5.563 5.574 52.576 52.612 1:45.188
9 Erin Hamlin USA 17 5.576 5.578 52.530 52.740 1:45.270
10 Raluca Stramaturaru ROU 9 5.624 5.628 52.666 52.637 1:45.303
11 Emliy Sweeney USA 13 5.580 5.588 52.623 52.706 1:45.329
12 Eliza Cauce LAT 15 5.588 5.573 52.677 52.661 1:45.338
13 Miriam Kastlunger AUT 16 5.648 5.657 52.763 52.702 1:45.465
14 Viktoriia Demchenko RUS 8 5.587 5.593 52.798 52.710 1:45.508
15 Birgit Platzer AUT 11 5.603 5.627 52.716 52.992 1:45.708
16 Kimberley McRae CAN 18 5.560 5.575 53.070 52.693 1:45.763
17 Madeleine Egle AUT 3 5.648 5.680 52.838 52.926 1:45.764
18 Andrea Vötter ITA 10 5.611 5.654 52.866 52.958 1:45.824
19 Ekaterina Baturina RUS 14 5.610 5.581 52.809 53.044 1:45.853
20 Natalia Wojtusclszyn POL 5 5.634 5.647 52.997 52.901 1:45.898
21 Elina Ieva Vitola LAT 1 5.639 5.642 53.208 53.069 1:46.277
DNF Ulla Zirne LAT 7 5.635 DNF
DNF Ekaterina Katnikova RUS 4 5.598 DNF
DNF Kendija Aparjode LAT 2 5.683 DNF