Sigulda (pps) At the age of 40 the exceptional luge athlete Armin Zoeggeler of Italy added yet another title to his already extensive medal collection. At the final of the Viessmann Luge World Cup series in Sigulda, Latvia, the two-time Olympic and six-time World Champion not only celebrated the 57th individual victory of his career.

Zoeggeler, who has ten overall World Cup titles to his name, also claimed the European title for the third time after 2004 and 2008 at the 45th European Luge Championships of the International Luge Federation (FIL) that were carried out at the same time.

Germany’s Johannes Ludwig claimed a second place finish at the World Cup final and the Europeans, Dominik Fischnaller of Italy finished in third position in both events. Fischnaller, who won the gold medal at last year’s Junior Worlds, thus claimed his first medal in the World Cup series.

Two-time European Champion Russia’s Albert Demchenko had to cancel his participation in the men’s singles due to back problems. However, he wanted to compete in the Team Relay event.

Olympic Champion Felix Loch – the entire Germany Olympic squad did not compete in Sigulda – successfully defended his overall Viessmann Luge World Cup title with 685 points. Zoeggeler (595 points) earned the second place in the overall rankings ahead of compatriot Fischnaller (534 points).

Quotes

Armin Zoeggeler (ITA / two-time Olympic and six-time World Champion, now three-time European Champion)

“I almost botched the second run right at the start. But in the middle part I was able to really accelerate. Even though the best German lugers were missing today, it’s still a great feeling to travel to the Olympic Games with such a victory.”

Johannes Ludwig (GER / 2013 World bronze medalist, 2014 European runner-up, 2013 European bronze medalist)

“After a rather bad season this success is really good and it will give me the necessary motivation for the summer training and the next winter.”

Dominik Fischnaller (ITA / 2013 Junior World Champion, 2014 European bronze medalist)

“After I didn’t show a good performance at the past two events I absolutely wanted to achieve a good result here in order to remain in the group of the 12 best seeded lugers at the Olympic Games. And now I’ve even claimed a third place finish in the overall World Cup rankings…”