2016/2017 FIL World Cup – Women’s Luge – Race 1

From Winterberg, GER

It was a German sweep of the podium to open the 2016/2017 World Cup season. Natalie Geisenberger carried a .15 second advantage over teammate Tatjana Hüfner into the second heat on the strength of a track record. Geisenberger’s second run was even quicker, keeping her ahead of Hüfner in the final tally by just over .4 seconds, and keeping Hüfner from scoring her record tying 37th win.

Dajana Eitberger finished third to complete the German sweep. Julia Taubitz, the fourth German slider, finished 13th. Her top 15 finish places her in Sunday’s sprint competition, which is reserved for the top 15 of each discipline.

Birgit Platzer finished fourth with a very strong set of runs for Austria. Tatyana Ivanova of Russia had an amazing second run, moving up from tenth place in the first run to fifth overall, while Canadian Kimberley McRae finished sixth.

It was a tough day for the Americans, with all four women finding trouble at least once between their two runs. Emily Sweeney was the top scoring slider for USA Luge finishing ninth. two spots ahead of teammate Summer Britcher, who finished 11th. Erin Hamlin had trouble in her second run and fell back to 14th, while Raychel Germaine finished 21st.

Alex Gough joined McRae in the top ten for Canada with a tenth place finish.

Results:

Pos Name Nation Bib Start 1 Start 2 Run 1 Run 2 Total
1 Natalie Geisenberger GER 24 4.930 4.921 55.401 55.323 1:50.724
2 Tatjana Hüfner GER 20 4.970 4.971 55.558 55.574 1:51.132
3 Dajana Eitberger GER 16 5.033 5.046 55.712 55.677 1:51.389
4 Birgit Platzer AUT 13 5.092 5.090 55.775 55.823 1:51.598
5 Tatyana Ivanova RUS 22 4.985 5.002 56.016 55.764 1:51.780
6 Kimberley McRae CAN 12 4.975 4.999 55.925 55.865 1:51.790
7 Martina Kocher SUI 19 5.026 5.025 55.941 55.894 1:51.835
8 Ulla Zirne LAT 8 5.120 5.112 56.005 55.840 1:51.845
9 Emily Sweeney USA 15 5.111 5.088 56.114 55.781 1:51.895
10 Alex Gough CAN 11 4.970 4.969 56.042 55.887 1:51.929
11 Summer Britcher USA 18 5.058 5.039 55.933 56.026 1:51.959
12 Eliza Cauce LAT 23 4.974 4.986 56.129 55.843 1:51.972
13 Julia Taubitz GER 1 5.074 5.085 55.996 55.982 1:51.978
14 Erin Hamlin USA 21 5.031 5.043 56.053 56.038 1:52.091
15 Sandra Robatscher ITA 14 5.069 5.041 56.201 56.145 1:52.346
16 Ekaterina Baturina RUS 17 5.013 5.019 56.209 56.281 1:52.490
17 Ewa Kuls POL 6 5.027 5.062 56.291 56.337 1:52.628
18 Ekaterina Katnikova RUS 9 5.063 5.073 56.342 56.345 1:52.687
19 Raluca Stramaturaru ROU 5 5.150 5.187 56.553 56.357 1:52.910
20 Miriam Kastlunger AUT 7 5.075 5.101 56.814 56.104 1:52.918
21 Raychel Germaine USA 4 5.124 5.167 56.366 56.609 1:52.975
22 Madeleine Egle AUT 2 5.141 5.093 56.423 56.554 1:52.977
23 Andrea Vötter ITA 10 5.152 5.146 56.594 56.445 1:53.039
24 Natalie Maag SUI 3 5.060 5.059 56.637 56.609 1:53.246