From Whistler, CAN
(February 8, 2025) – There’s been no better slider in men’s luge over the past few seasons than Max Langenhan, and once again he flexed his luge muscles and won another gold medal. This time, it was for a world championship medal.
Langehan came into the second heat of the 53rd FIL World Championships men’s luge race ahead of Austria’s Nico Gleirscher, with teammate Felix Loch in third, Austria’s Jonas Müller fourth and Dominik Fischnaller fifth.
In that second heat, it was first Fichnaller who made a move to try to get onto the podium after a strong slide moved him up a spot ahead of Müller.
But Fischnaller’s climb stopped there. Felix Loch put down an outstanding second effort, one that at the time was the fastest of the race and more than enough to put him on the podium with two sliders still to go.
Nico Gleirscher, who is in the middle of an outstanding season of his own, was outstarted by Loch and bled time all the way down the track. While the Austrian didn’t have any noticable issues with his run, he couldn’t match the huge run Loch put down and crossed the finish line just behind his German counterpart.
Finally it was time for Max Langenhan. The defending champion was also outstarted by Loch. But unlike Gleischer, Langenhan was able to build speed all the way down the 2010 Olympic track as he finished over a tenth ahead of Loch for his second straight gold.
Though he came into the race as the defending champion, and the winningest slider over the last two years, Langenhan was still a little surprised by his victory.
“I never imagined this,” Langenhan told FIL’s Kate Hansen after the race. “I was so incredibly impressed by Felix’s time in the second run, it was like “come on!” But the whole team was really good and we’re one-two!”
Loch’s silver tied him with Georg Hackl for the most medals all time in FIL World Championship history.
“This is perfect,” he said. It couldn’t be better. With Max winning and me second place. It was an excellent weekend for the whole team. With us one and two, just perfect!”
Glerischer had been the top slider all season not named Langenhan, and was happy with his bronze.
“I feel good! The second run wasn’t so good,” he reflected. “But I’m happy with a bronze medal. It’s awesome!”
Fischnaller finished one spot off of the podium in fourth, with Müller fifth and Kristers Aparjods sixth from tenth in the first heat.
The United States had two men in the men’s singles race. Jonny Gustafson was the top finisher in eighth, up from ninth in the first heat. Tucker West finished just outside of the top ten in 12th.
The Canadian men were unable to match the success of their women’s singles counterparts. Theo Downey was the top Canadian in 22nd, with Dylan Morse 26th and Bastian van Wouw 28th as none of the sliders made the second heat.
Australia’s Alex Ferlazzo missed a top ten by just over a tenth in 11th.
With only the relay still to go, here is the current medal table:
1. Germany (4G, 4S, 3B)
2. Austria (2G, 2B)
3. USA (1S, 1B)
4. Latvia (1S)
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
| 1 | Max Langenhan | GER | 18 | 6.982 | 6.997 | 50.024 | 49.898 | 1:39.922 |
| 2 | Felix Loch | GER | 21 | 7.004 | 6.961 | 50.148 | 49.909 | 1:40.057 |
| 3 | Nico Gleirscher | AUT | 22 | 7.015 | 7.030 | 50.086 | 50.058 | 1:40.144 |
| 4 | Dominik Fischnaller | ITA | 16 | 7.031 | 7.022 | 50.255 | 50.087 | 1:40.342 |
| 5 | Jonas Müller | AUT | 20 | 6.976 | 6.981 | 50.202 | 50.248 | 1:40.450 |
| 6 | Kristers Aparjods | LAT | 19 | 7.104 | 7.043 | 50.397 | 50.101 | 1:40.498 |
| 7 | Gints Berzins | LAT | 13 | 7.016 | 6.997 | 50.324 | 50.179 | 1:40.503 |
| 8 | Jonathan Gustafson | USA | 10 | 7.074 | 7.031 | 50.382 | 50.159 | 1:40.541 |
| 9 | David Glerischer | AUT | 14 | 7.043 | 7.056 | 50.356 | 50.226 | 1:40.582 |
| 10 | Wolfgang Kindl | AUT | 17 | 7.098 | 7.092 | 50.373 | 50.234 | 1:40.607 |
| 11 | Alexander Ferlazzo | AUS | 9 | 7.036 | 7.030 | 50.406 | 50.260 | 1:40.666 |
| 12 | Tucker West | USA | 15 | 7.014 | 7.014 | 50.508 | 50.391 | 1:40.899 |
| 13 | Timon Grancagnolo | GER | 11 | 7.156 | 7.144 | 50.529 | 50.423 | 1:40.952 |
| 14 | Andriy Mandziy | UKR | 8 | 7.119 | 7.084 | 50.602 | 50.512 | 1:41.114 |
| 15 | Mateusz Sochowicz | POL | 4 | 7.003 | 7.031 | 50.594 | 50.657 | 1:41.251 |
| 16 | Anton Dukach | UKR | 7 | 7.102 | 7.060 | 50.512 | 50.740 | 1:41.252 |
| 17 | David Nößler | GER | 6 | 7.223 | 7.099 | 50.631 | 50.638 | 1:41.269 |
| 18 | Kaspers Rinks | LAT | 30 | 7.132 | 7.123 | 50.621 | 50.696 | 1:41.317 |
| 19 | Leon Felderer | ITA | 5 | 7.116 | 7.060 | 50.673 | 50.809 | 1:41.482 |
| 20 | Jozef Ninis | SVK | 12 | 7.156 | 7.175 | 50.686 | 50.813 | 1:41.499 |
| 21 | Alex Gufler | ITA | 3 | 7.113 | 50.757 | |||
| 22 | Theo Downey | CAN | 1 | 7.151 | 50.815 | |||
| 23 | Seiya Kobayashi | JPN | 23 | 7.094 | 50.891 | |||
| 24 | Marian Skupek | SVK | 2 | 7.111 | 50.932 | |||
| 25 | Svante Kohala | SWE | 24 | 7.153 | 50.940 | |||
| 26 | Dylan Morse | CAN | 28 | 7.152 | 50.941 | |||
| 27 | Valentin Cretu | ROU | 27 | 7.159 | 51.002 | |||
| 28 | Bastian van Wouw | CAN | 25 | 7.224 | 51.236 | |||
| 29 | Eduard-Mihai Craciun | ROU | 26 | 7.111 | 51.566 | |||
| 30 | Walter Vikström | FIN | 29 | 7.252 | 53.197 |