A series‘ end, two records and three comebacks after long breaks
Sochi (pps) A lot happened at the past eight Viessmann Luge World Cup events in the pre-Olympic season. For instance, the winning streak of Germany’s sliders in the men’s singles came to an end, two records were set and there were three comebacks after long breaks.
On December 16, 2012, Germany’s winning series in the men’s singles was brought to an end by Russian Albert Demchenko. After 12 successive black-red-golden victories in the Viessmann Luge World Cup since November 27, 2011, it was Demchenko - at the age of 41 the oldest competitor on the World Cup circuit - who put an end to the series of the protégés of head coach Norbert Loch in Sigulda.
Germany’s Anke Wischnewski and David Moeller had to wait eight and four years, respectively, to climb onto the podium’s top spot again at a Viessmann Luge World Cup event. On November 13, 2004 Wischnewski won the World Cup in Altenberg and almost eight years to the day, on November 24, 2012, the now 35-year-old won the season-opener in Innsbruck-Igls (Austria).
Moeller, on the other hand, had to wait four years for another Viessmann Luge World Cup victory. It was on November 22, 2009 that Moeller won the Olympic test event in Whistler (Canada); then the two-time World Champion took the podium’s top spot at the World Cup in Koenigssee (Germany) on January 6, 2013. And, two weeks later, he did it again in Winterberg (Germany).
It took Italy even longer to celebrate a triple triumph in the men’s singles. On February 3, 2013, three Italian sliders, namely Armin Zoeggeler, Dominik Fischnaller and David Mair, claimed all the medals at the World Cup in Lake Placid (USA). The last triple victory for Italy dated back to December 22, 1985, when Norbert Huber, Paul Hildgartner and Hans-Joerg Raffl achieved this feat in front of a home crowd in Olang.
Record World Champion Zoeggeler set another mark in Lake Placid, a record that will stand forever: The two-time Olympic Champion claimed his 55th individual World Cup victory. Jointly on second place, far behind Zoeggeler, are three-time Olympic Champion Georg Hackl of Germany and Austria’s “luge legend” Markus Prock with both 33 victories to their names.
Last but not least, Germany’s doubles with Tobias Wendl-Tobias Arlt matched an age-old record. With five consecutive World Cup victories the Bavarian doubles team are now tied with Stefan Krausse-Jan Behrendt. The 1998 Olympic Champions Krausse-Behrendt had earned five Viessmann Luge World Cup victories in a row in the 1995-1996 season.
