40th win in the Viessmann World Cup for Natalie Geisenberger

 Winterberg (RWH): A milestone for Natalie Geisenberger: After winning the opening race in Innsbruck-Igls, the 2014 Olympic Champion has now won the Viessmann World Cup race in Winterberg, which means she is celebrating the 40th individual race win of her career. Her victory has also put the three-time World Champion firmly in the lead in the list of total individual wins.

 The 29-year-old German athlete, who left the International Luge Federation’s 47th World Championships in 2017 empty handed, pushed record-winning World Champion Tatjana Hüfner (GER) into second place at the VELTINS Ice Arena in the Hochsauerland region of Germany. Third place went to US athlete Summer Britcher, who made it back it onto the podium after an entire season without a top-three finish.

 Geisenberger leads the overall standings in the Viessmann World Cup with a total of 200 points, followed by record-winning World Champion Tatjana Hüfner (155) and Dajana Eitberger (GER) with 119 points.

 Quotes

Natalie Geisenberger (GER / 2014 Olympic Champion, three-time World Champion):

“I think statistics like your 40th World Cup win don’t really sink into until after you have retired from the track. All I do is try to do my best in every single race. I did well in training and proved that the sled is running well. It’s great when you are able to transfer your performance from training into the race itself. Nothing much has changed in the luging world over the summer.”

 Tatjana Hüfner (GER / Olympic Champion and five-time World Champion):

“The result is ok, but I’ve never made a mistake like the one at the start of my first run before. I got the fastener on my glove caught on my shoe. However, I’d rather a mistake like this happen now than in February.”

 Summer Britcher (USA / Gold in the 2017 U23 World Championships)

“It always feels amazing when you end up on the podium. I crashed in the Nations Cup last week, which meant I couldn’t qualify for the World Cup. When something like that happens, a result like this is even better.”