Georg Hackl second in front of Armin Zöggeler
Igls. The World Championships in Calgary (Canada), which will take place in the middle of February, are approaching, and title holder Jens Müller’s shape is getting better and better. At the Viessmann luge World Cup in Igls, the Olympic champion from 1988 repeated his success of the past season and achieved his ninth World Cup victory. With 1:38.425 minutes he was only three thousandths of a second faster than Georg Hackl (1:38.428) from Berchtesgaden. The Italian Armin Zöggeler (1:38.564) ended up in rank three. Reinhold Rainer (1:38.753) and Willi Huber (1:38.774), both from Italy, finished fourth and fifth in front of the Austrian Markus Prock (1:38.865). Now Zöggeler (330) is the overall World Cup leader in front of Müller (295) and Hackl (276).
The day before, there had been two triple victories for the German women and doubles teams. With 1:21.078 minutes Sonja Wiedemann from Hausham was first in front of the Olympic champion Silke Kraushaar (1:21.180) from Oberhof and Barbara Niedernhuber (1:21.423) from Berchtesgaden. The World Champions Patric Leitner/Alexander Resch (1:20.718) won the double’s race in front of Andre Florschütz/Torsten Wustlich (1:20.765) and the World Cup leaders Steffen Skel/Steffen Wöller (1:20.770).
Opinions:
Jens Müller: „Even though I won here last year and then became World Champion, I do not believe in omen. However, this success makes me look forward to the World Championships with confidence. In spite of my being World Champion I do not feel chased. I want to be in really good shape not before the World Championships.“
Georg Hackl: „My first run was not perfect. There were some minor problems, which cost me about one tenth of a second. In spite of this I am very pleased and confident.“
Armin Zöggeler: „Great weather, great track, great race. Only my second run was not ok. Nevertheless I am very content, because up to now my best result here in Igls was a third rank during the Olympic winter of 1998. I do not like this track at all.“
