Sigulda. For the first time in three years Austria´s Markus Prock won once again a race of the Viessmann Luge World Cup. The brandnew European Champion was in the lead with a total time of 1:41,579 followed by his teammates Markus Kleinheinz (1:41,934) and Rainer Margreiter (1:41,029). The last race before Sigulda won by Prock was 1999 in St. Moritz. Germany´s three-time Olympic Champion Georg Hackl crashed in the second run and only came in on the last position. The best result for the USA was realized by Adam Heidt on 9th place (1:42,394) folllowed by Tony Benshoof (1:42,643). Chris Moffat from Canada finished on rank 15 (1:42,998).
Quotes:
Markus Prock (Austria):
"It is great to be on top again after three years. I am in good form and hope I can keep it until the Olympics. We never thought we would make a triple victory here. It is also very good for our team."
Markus Kleinheinz (Austria), 1995 and 1996 Junior World Champion: "This is the best World Cup result in my career. The beginning of the season was quite difficult for me, but right now everything seems to be going in a perfect way."
Rainer Margreiter (Austria), second in the 1999 overall World Cup results: "Three Austrians on the victory rostrum – this is terrific. I am especially happy for Markus Kleinheinz because it will put an end to all the discussions about his participation in the Olympics. Our team will benefit from this success, too. It will give us self-confidence for Salt Lake City."
19th Victory in Viessmann Luge World Cup for Silke Kraushaar
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."
