Anna Berreiter, Loch, Orlamünder/Gubitz and Degenhardt/Rosenthal German Champions
Altenberg (FIL/30 Dec 2023) Felix Loch, Anna Berreiter, Orlamünder/Gubitz and Degenhardt/Rosenthal won the German Championships at the SachsenEnergie-Eiskanal Altenberg.
The organizers had announced all five Olympic disciplines as a dress rehearsal for the World Championships. The training sessions and races for the German Championships were held from December 27 to 30.
The 52nd FIL Luge World Championships will take place from January 26 to 28, 2024 in the Eastern Erz Mountains. Head Coach Norbert Loch used the German Championships to allocate the remaining open spots for the World Championships, as there was still one spot available in each discipline.
Three-time Olympic champion Felix Loch took the lead at the start of the German Championships. After winning last year's title in Oberhof, the 34-year-old repeated his success on the 2024 World Championships track. Max Langenhan, who has won every World Cup race this season, finished second. Local hero Timon Grancagnolo was third. The Saxon junior came from fifth place in the first run to finish on the podium.
In the women's race, reigning World Champion Anna Berreiter won the German title for the second time. German runner-up was Melina Fischer, a junior from Saxony. Third place went to another young athlete, Alina Bräutigam from Thuringia. The leader after the first run, Merle Fräbel, fell back to fourth place due to some mistakes in the second run. World Cup leader Julia Taubitz also made mistakes in the first run. She did not start the second run.
There were surprise winners in the men's doubles. Hannes Orlamünder and Paul Gubitz won their first national title ahead of Olympic champions Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt in second and Moritz Jäger and Valentin Steudte in third.
In the women's doubles, there was no change in the final standings after the halfway point. Jessica Degenhardt and Cheyenne Rosenthal won ahead of the young duo Elisa-Marie Storch and Pauline Patz and Dajana Eitberger and Saskia Schirmer in third place.
In the final team relay, three teams - one woman, one man, and a men's and women's doubles team - competed. Anna Berreiter, Orlamünder/Gubitz, Felix Loch and Degenhardt/Rosenthal won by a thousandth of a second. Second place went to Melina Fischer, Wendl/Arlt, Max Langenhan and Storch/Patz. Third place went to Alina Bräutigam, Jäger/Steudte, Timon Grancagnolo and Eitberger/Schirmer.
Norbert Loch nominates more starters for World Cup and World Championships
The EBERSPÄCHER World Cup will continue in January 2024 in Winterberg and Innsbruck. The 52nd FIL World Championships in Altenberg will be the highlight of the season. After the National Championships, German head coach Norbert Loch awarded six athletes with a ticket to the World Cup and World Championships.
Timon Grancagnolo will complete the German team as the fourth starter in the men's singles and Melina Fischer in the women's singles. Moritz Jäger and Valentin Steudte have earned the third starting place in the doubles' event, and Elisa-Marie Storch and Pauline Patz have also shown their skills on the World Cup track in the women's doubles' event and will compete as the third women's team in the coming weeks.
Photos: Sandro Halank
