Anna Orlova second in front of Angelika Neuner
Sigulda. Germany`s Olympic Champion Silke Kraushaar has won the Viessmann Luge World Cup at Sigulda (Latvia) in a total time 1:26,437 minutes. It was her 19th victory and now she is close behind record winning Sylke Otto (20 victories), who finished fourth (1:27,361) in Sigulda. Second place went to Latvia`s Anna Orlova (1:27,089) followed by Austria`s Angelika Neuner (1:27,232).The best result for the USA was realized by Becky Wilczak who finished on eighth place (1:27,683).Silke Kraushaar is still in the lead (485 points) in the overall standings of the Viessmann Luge World Cup series, followed by Sylke Otto (415) and Angelika Neuner (371)
Quotes:
Silke Kraushaar (Germany) Olympic Champion: "19 victories in only four years of World Cup participation: This is a good result. I like this track very much because it is very difficult."
Anna Orlova (Latvia): "Since the European Championsships I have been using a new sled. I am not sure of making it to the Olympics, but I really hope I can start in Salt Lake City."
Angelika Neuner (Austria): "This is a very good result, espially so close before the Olympics. I like selective tracks like here in Sigulda. I am very confident and hope I can do the next races as well as I did here."
Third victory in a row for Skel/Wöller at Sigulda
Sigulda. Germany`s Overall-Winner of the past season´s World Cup series Steffen Skel/Steffen Wöller have realized their third victory in a row at Sigulda in the Viessmann Luge World Cup. The silver medallist of the last two World Championships won in a total time of 1:26,162 minutes in front of Austria`s Tobias Schiegl/Markus Schiegl (1:26,202) and Mark Grimmette/Brian Martin (1:26,203) from the USA. Leitner/Resch, who finished fourth at Sigulda, are still in the lead in the Overall World Cup standings with 405 points followed by Skel/Wöller (395) and Schiegl/Schiegl (353). Grimmette/Martin are on fifth place with 311 points.
Steffen Wöller (Germany), World Cup Winner 2000/2001: "This was our third victory I a row at Sigulda. We like this track very much. It is still our goal to win the Overall World Cup. There will be a big final next week in Winterberg."
Tobias Schiegl (Austria) two-time World Champion: "We have had a problem at the start of the first run; the second run was nearly perfect, but at the end we made some mistakes."
Mark Grimmette (USA), bronze medallist at the Olympics 1998: "During training we had some problems, but we figured them out and found the right line for the race. We love this track."
