Dajana Eitberger secures home victory in Oberhof

Oberhof (RWH) Dajana Eitberger has taken a long-awaited World Cup victory on her home track in Oberhof. The 2015 European Champion from Germany took her second Viessmann World Cup victory of the season, following on from her win at the BMW Sprint World Cup in Lake Placid. Her teammate Natalie Geisenberger finished second, improving her own track record on her second run to 41.074 seconds.

World Champion Tatjana Hüfner (GER), who was forced to sit out last weekend’s event in Königssee due to injury, came home third on the challenging artificial ice track in the Thuringian Forest. She has stated that her place in the starting line-up at the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang next month is not at risk. Russia’s Tatyana Ivanova finished fourth.

Geisenberger retains a commanding lead in the overall Viessmann World Cup rankings with 795 points. Dajana Eitberger is second (618) and Tatjana Hüfner third (585).

Quotes

Dajana Eitberger (GER / 2015 European Champion):

“It finally worked out. My home race is always the most difficult race of the season, because my relatives and friends are all expecting a lot from me. But I managed to tune it out this year. I knew what I was capable of, but it was a clean slate for everyone today because the conditions in final practice were so atrocious.”

Natalie Geisenberger (GER / 2014 Olympic Champion, three-time World Champion):

“Dajana was extremely strong in training, and had a great first run too. I really attacked on the second run and managed to set a new track record. But Dajana was the better driver today.”

Tatjana Hüfner (GER, 2010 Olympic Champion, five-time World Champion):

“I’m so relieved, and glad that I was so competitive. I’m still missing that extra something to be right at the front. We’ll have to work on that over the next few weeks, but for now I’m just happy to be back in the World Cup.”