2016/2017 FIL World Cup – Women’s Luge – Race 6

From Sigulda, LAT

Natalie Geisenberger won her third race of the season, and second in a row, in Latvia. Unlike her teammates in doubles luge, Geisenberger never had the quickest time, putting down the second fastest in each heat on her way to a gold medal.

Geisenberger’s teammate, Tatjana Hüfner, did put down a heat-fastest run in the second run to move from third to second, just ahead of Tatyana Ivanova.  Ivanova struggled in her second heat and made a big mistake halfway down the Latvian track. The Russian couldn’t make up the time, and fell back to third overall after two runs to win bronze.

Victoria Demchenko finished fourth as she continued her comeback, having missed the first part of the season due to injury, while Kimberley McRae was the top-scoring North American in fifth. Birgit Platzer rounded out the top six with a sixth place run.

The United States didn’t necessarily “struggle” in Latvia, with three of the for American women finishing just outside of the top six. Summer Britcher led the way in seventh, with Erin Hamlin and Emily Sweeney right behind her in eighth and ninth. Raychel Germaine finished 23rd after having trouble in her second run.

Alex Gough of Canada finished 13th, just behind the two Latvians. Both Eliza Cauce and Ulla Zirne struggled to find speed on their home ice, and neither could work their way into the top ten.

Results:

Pos Name Nation Bib Start 1 Start 2 Run 1 Run 2 Total
1 Natalie Geisenberger GER 22 1.630 1.635 41.675 41.810 1:23.485
2 Tatjana Hüfner GER 19 1.622 1.627 41.760 41.753 1:23.513
3 Tatyana Ivanova RUS 20 1.617 1.624 41.583 42.033 1:23.616
4 Victoria Demchenko RUS 13 1.673 1.665 41.925 41.859 1:23.784
5 Kimberley yMcRae CAN 16 1.651 1.653 41.859 41.986 1:23.845
6 Birgit Platzer AUT 15 1.673 1.673 41.962 41.934 1:23.896
7 Summer Britcher USA 17 1.644 1.642 41.919 42.002 1:23.921
8 Erin Hamlin USA 23 1.651 1.665 41.901 42.112 1:24.013
9 Emily Sweeney USA 24 1.654 1.653 42.006 42.111 1:24.117
10 Martina Kocher SUI 12 1.651 1.646 42.042 42.099 1:24.141
11 Eliza Cauce LAT 18 1.625 1.630 42.264 41.919 1:24.183
12 Ulla Zirne LAT 10 1.687 1.700 42.185 42.001 1:24.186
13 Alex Gough CAN 21 1.645 1.649 42.274 42.202 1:24.476
14 Andrea Vötter ITA 8 1.670 1.660 42.244 42.239 1:24.483
15 Ewa Kuls POL 9 1.661 1.653 42.380 42.229 1:24.609
16 Ekaterina Katnikova RUS 6 1.654 1.656 42.463 42.234 1:24.697
17 Kendija Aparjode LAT 11 1.700 1.702 42.708 42.019 1:24.727
18 Ekaterina Baturina RUS 7 1.632 1.643 42.751 42.122 1:24.873
19 Eunryng Sung KOR 3 1.663 1.658 42.630 42.359 1:24.989
20 Raluca Stramaturaru ROU 2 1.701 1.703 42.526 42.487 1:25.013
21 Natalie Maag SUI 4 1.683 1.710 42.731 42.609 1:25.340
22 Olena Shkhumova UKR 1 1.694 1.705 42.655 43.102 1:25.757
23 Raychel Germaine USA 5 1.685 1.689 43.246 52.420 1:35.666
DNF Miriam Kastlunger AUT 14 1.680 DNF