From Whistler, CAN
(December 15, 2023) – There was a lot of tight racing through the field for men’s luge to kick off FIL World Cup weekend number two, but for the second straight week it was all Max Langenhan out front, as the German cruised to a gold medal in Whistler.
Langenhan opened up a big lead in the first heat over Austria’s Jonas Müller, with Latvia’s Kristers Aparjods sitting in third.
In the second run Aparjods took the lead from Dominik Fischnaller and Nico Gleirscher, who had been tied for the lead. Müller was next, and slid to a lead of over .2. Then it was Langenhan’s turn, and while his second run didn’t look quite as tidy as his first, it was still a bit faster and more than enough to give him his third straight gold to start the season between full World Cup and Sprint World Cup.
Müller’s silver was his second in two weeks, while Aparjods bronze was the first of his season.
Fischnaller and Gleirscher finished tied for fifth.
Tucker West led the way for the United States with an eighth place finish on the strength of the fast start in both heats. Teammate Jonny Gustafson put together two quality runs, with the second better than the first, on his way to a ninth place finish.
Hunter Harris put down a good second run to move up to 20th on the third finishing American sled.
Canada’s in the middle of a large rebuilding project and slid out two young men’s sliders in Whistler. Theo Downey was the top slider for the Canadian team with a 17th place finish. Teammate Dylan Morse finished 2oth, up from 22nd in the first heat.
Australia’s Alex Ferlazzo was a bit disappointed after his first run. His second run was quicker and enough to move him from 14th up to tenth for his first top ten of his career.
The West – Gustafson – Ferlazzo eighth through tenth also doubled as the podium for the American Pacific championship, with West winning gold there.
Aidan Mueller, standout American junior slider, crashed in his first heat and was scored with a DNF, the lone DNF in the race.
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
| 1 | Max Langenhan | GER | 24 | 7.004 | 6.995 | 50.091 | 50.002 | 1:40.093 |
| 2 | Jonas Müller | AUT | 26 | 6.994 | 6.998 | 50.214 | 50.134 | 1:40.348 |
| 3 | Kristers Aparjods | LAT | 25 | 7.038 | 7.024 | 50.314 | 50.258 | 1:40.572 |
| 4 | Nico Gleirscher | AUT | 27 | 7.042 | 7.056 | 50.449 | 50.353 | 1:40.802 |
| 4 | Dominik Fischnaller | ITA | 28 | 7.028 | 7.031 | 50.326 | 50.476 | 1:40.802 |
| 6 | Wolfgang Kindl | AUT | 21 | 7.095 | 7.097 | 50.414 | 50.447 | 1:40.861 |
| 7 | David Gleirscher | AUT | 20 | 7.100 | 7.101 | 50.541 | 50.476 | 1:41.017 |
| 8 | Tucker West | USA | 17 | 6.948 | 6.962 | 50.465 | 50.589 | 1:41.054 |
| 9 | Jonathan Gustafson | USA | 15 | 7.064 | 7.068 | 50.554 | 50.503 | 1:41.057 |
| 10 | Alexander Ferlazzo | AUS | 14 | 7.034 | 7.051 | 50.692 | 50.588 | 1:41.280 |
| 11 | Leon Felderer | ITA | 19 | 7.097 | 7.078 | 50.651 | 50.656 | 1:41.307 |
| 12 | Gints Berzins | LAT | 22 | 7.017 | 7.015 | 50.678 | 50.768 | 1:41.446 |
| 13 | Anton Dukach | UKR | 13 | 7.035 | 7.032 | 50.770 | 50.716 | 1:41.486 |
| 14 | David Nößler | GER | 18 | 7.053 | 7.066 | 50.677 | 50.977 | 1:41.654 |
| 15 | Jozef Ninis | SVK | 5 | 7.182 | 7.182 | 50.932 | 50.783 | 1:41.715 |
| 16 | Andriy Mandziy | UKR | 7 | 7.171 | 7.118 | 50.964 | 50.921 | 1:41.885 |
| 17 | Theo Downey | CAN | 12 | 7.143 | 7.168 | 50.922 | 50.998 | 1:41.920 |
| 18 | Marian Skupek | SVK | 10 | 7.102 | 7.120 | 51.067 | 50.870 | 1:41.937 |
| 19 | Hunter Harris | USA | 8 | 7.192 | 7.193 | 51.087 | 50.913 | 1:42.000 |
| 20 | Dylan Morse | CAN | 11 | 7.155 | 7.149 | 51.108 | 51.056 | 1:42.164 |
| 21 | Mateusz Sochowicz | POL | 16 | 7.008 | 7.101 | 51.079 | 51.331 | 1:42.410 |
| 22 | Valentin Cretu | ROU | 6 | 7.185 | 7.144 | 51.277 | 51.145 | 1:42.422 |
| 23 | Danyil Martsinovskyi | UKR | 2 | 7.173 | 7.212 | 51.370 | 51.294 | 1:42.664 |
| 24 | Alex Gufler | ITA | 4 | 7.121 | 7.248 | 51.288 | 51.567 | 1:42.855 |
| 25 | Eduard-Mihai Craciun | ROU | 3 | 7.108 | 7.110 | 51.505 | 51.492 | 1:42.997 |
| 26 | Felix Loch | GER | 23 | 6.973 | 7.531 | 50.453 | 52.585 | 1:43.038 |
| 27 | Arkadiusz Trojga | POL | 1 | 7.251 | 7.534 | 52.507 | 54.352 | 1:46.859 |
| DNF | Aidan Mueller | USA | 9 | 7.191 | DNF |
