Dajana Eitberger celebrates 10th World Cup victory - the battle for the overall World Cup remains open

St. Moritz-Celerina (FIL, 19.02.2023) In the triple victory of the German women at the Olympic Bobrun St. Moritz-Celerina, winner Dajana Eitberger celebrated her 10th World Cup victory. She won ahead of her teammates Julia Taubitz and Anna Berreiter. It is the third victory of the 32-year-old sprint World champion and the fifth podium finish in FIL EBERSPÄCHER luge World Cup this season. She was welcomed at the finish line by her boyfriend and father of her son and laughingly said that with such a victory one could end one's single-seater career in peace. She had announced at the beginning of the season that she would switch to women's doubles on her way to the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympic Games.

Looking at the time differences, it was clear that it would be an exciting second run. There were only 93 thousandths between the leading Latvian Kendija Aparjode and her teammate Sigita Berzina, who was in sixth place. Starting in fifth place, Dajana Eitberger managed the second best run time with 54.235 seconds, which was enough for her to win the race. Only her 19-year-old teammate Merle Fräbel was faster with 54.216 seconds, moving up from eleventh to sixth place. Dajana Eitberger won with an overall time of 1:48.396 just ahead of Vice World Champion Julia Taubitz (+0.010 sec.) and World Champion Anna Berreiter (+0.071 sec.).

Sigita Berzina missed the jump onto the podium with fourth place (+0.096 sec.), but still set a best mark: In 3.374 seconds, she managed the fastest start in the second run. Her Latvian teammate Elina Ieva Vitola (+0.179 sec.) moved up to fifth place, closely followed by Merle Fräbel (+0.192 sec.). Kendija Aparjode, who was leading at half time, finished seventh, 0.255 seconds behind, after a faulty second run.

The only Swiss in the World Cup circus, Natalie Maag, was happy about another top 10 finish with ninth place and visibly enjoyed the loud support of her fan club on her "heart's track". The 25-year-old has been competing as an lone athlete in the luge World Cup for years, has been training with the German team in Oberhof for twelve years and has always placed in the top 15 this season.

After winning the Sprint Overall World Cup, Julia Taubitz is about to defend her title in the Overall World Cup. The decision has been postponed, but she goes into the decisive World Cup race next week in Winterberg with a 90-point lead. With 892 points, the 26-year-old from Annaberg-Buchholz is ahead of her teammates Dajana Eitberger (802 p.) and Anna Berreiter (719 p.) in the fight for the big crystal globe. Austria's Madeleine Egle has no chance of making the podium with 603 points after her eighth-place finish today.

Quotes:

Dajana Eitberger (GER): “The train had no brakes today, only in the first run. I am really satisfied with the start. Uli Fietkau and Patric Leitner really got the créme de la créme out of me. Of course, the start was also very convenient for me. I've been struggling a bit with the Horse Shoe this week, so it was important to get a good performance out of it. In the second run, I didn't think it would go this far in front, but Kendija's mistake was the deciding factor. I am very happy!”

Julia Taubitz (GER): “It's beautiful here, the sun is shining, the track is beautiful. It's great to race here. Of course it has changeable conditions for sledding, but that's what makes it so special. It's wonderful that all three of us got to be on the podium today.”

Anna Berreiter (GER): “My performance was rather average today. I really gave a lot at the start today. It was really important for me to show my home coach Patric Leitner what I was capable of, what I learned from him. In the first run I was racing with the handbrake on, but technically very clean. In the second I wanted to attack, but unfortunately I made a mistake in the Horse Shoe, which cost me a lot. But I am very happy with the third place.”

The results of the 8th EBERSPÄCHER World Cup of the 2022/23 season are available under the following link: https://www.fil-luge.org/de/ergebnisse/eberspaecher-weltcup-26