Taubitz Rallies From 7th to Win in Sigulda

January 25, 2020 ken Luge News, News 0

From Sigulda, LAT

Jan. 25, 2020 – Over the course of the 2019/2020 season there have been exactly two women who have won gold medals: Julia Taubitz and Tatyana Ivanova. It looked as though that would change in Sigulda, with both Taubitz and Ivanova well out of the medals going into the second heat.

L-R: RIks the Penguin, Ivanova, Taubitz, Cauce (Courtesy FIL TV)

But that’s why they run both of the heats.

Taubitz rallied with the fastest run of the race in the second heat to take the lead from Ivanova with six sleds still to come. One by one Taubitz picked off the women ahead of her until the first heat leader Summer Britcher cae up. Britcher made a costly mistake halfway through her second run to drop down to 18th overall and give the win to Taubitz.

Ivanova finished second, just over a tenth back, while Eliza Cauce won her first FIL women’s luge medal in third.

VIktoriia Demchenko finished fourth, ahead of Madeleine Egle in fifth and Ekterina Katnikova in sixth.

The gold for Taubitz was her fourth gold and sixth medal overall for the year, while the silver for Ivanova was her second silver on the season.

Despite finishing behind Taubitz, Ivanova holds a 17 point lead over Taubitz going into Sunday’s sprint. Demchenko is third, followed by Britcher, Katnikova, and Andrea Vötter.

Emily Sweeney was the top-finishing American in Saturday’s race in 15th place. Britcher finished 18th, while Brittney Arndt and Ashley Farquharson finished 23rd and 26th, respectively.

For Canada, Trinity Ellis led the way in 20th, while teammate Makena Hodgson finished 25th. Carolyn Maxwell crashed in her second run and did not finish.

Results:

Pos Name Nation Bib Start 1 Start 2 Run 1 Run 2 Total
1 Julia Taubitz GER 27 1.660 1.664 42.632 42.312 1:24.944
2 Tatyana Ivanova RUS 25 1.631 1.633 42.634 42.425 1:25.059
3 Eliza Cauce LAT 19 1.635 1.639 42.606 42.488 1:25.094
4 Viktoriia Demchenko RUS 23 1.657 1.656 42.598 42.502 1:25.100
5 Madeleine Egle AUT 18 1.638 1.639 42.615 42.583 1:25.198
6 Ekaterina Katnikova RUS 24 1.667 1.666 42.696 42.539 1:25.235
7 Andrea Vötter ITA 28 1.663 1.658 42.793 42.444 1:25.237
8 Cheyenne Rosenthal GER 17 1.666 1.657 42.740 42.521 1:25.261
9 Ulla Zirne LAT 16 1.685 1.693 42.768 42.529 1:25.297
10 Anna Berreiter GER 26 1.662 1.651 42.835 42.517 1:25.352
11 Kendija Aparjode LAT 22 1.667 1.679 42.679 42.678 1:25.357
12 Elina Vitola LAT 10 1.650 1.664 42.625 42.740 1:25.365
13 Olesya Mikhaylenko RUS 2 1.691 1.687 42.715 42.655 1:25.370
14 Natalie Maag SUI 15 1.674 1.689 42.806 42.599 1:25.405
15 Emily Sweeney USA 9 1.650 1.652 42.539 42.820 1:25.459
16 Raluca Stramaturaru ROU 13 1.671 1.671 42.788 42.679 1:25.467
17 Veena Hofer ITA 5 1.660 1.682 42.627 42.895 1:25.522
18 Summer Britcher USA 21 1.641 1.639 42.517 43.051 1:25.568
19 Marion Oberhofer ITA 3 1.658 1.671 42.878 42.702 1:25.580
20 Trinity Ellis CAN 8 1.682 1.673 42.874 42.755 1:25.629
21 Olena Stetskiv UKR 6 1.671 1.681 42.738 42.923 1:25.661
22 Jessica Tiebel GER 20 1.717 1.711 42.995 42.682 1:25.677
23 Brittney Arndt USA 11 1.676 1.686 42.959 42.813 1:25.772
24 Katarina Simonakova SVK 7 1.691 1.699 43.011 43.019 1:26.030
25 Makena Hodgson CAN 1 1.687 1.684 43.066 43.061 1:26.127
26 Ashley Farquharson USA 14 1.675 1.682 43.440 42.978 1:26.418
27 Veronica Ravenna ARG 4 1.727 1.723 43.274 43.736 1:27.010
DNF Carolyn Maxwell CAN 12 1.654 1.648 42.814 DNF