Experience in Sochi helps Bogdanov/Prokhorov to first World Cup victory

Sochi (FIL) The doubles Andrei Bogdanov and Iurii Prokhorov won their first World Cup race at the EBERSPÄCHER Luge World Cup in Sochi.

The two Russians set the best time in both runs on their home track. After second place a week ago, they were able to use their home advantage again on the 2014 Olympic track. Toni Eggert and Sascha Benecken (Germany) finished second ahead of the brothers Andris and Juris Sics from Latvia, who triumphed a week ago.

"Of course we are very happy to have a World Cup win now," 29-year-old steersman  Bogdanov said happily, "even more so on our home track." However, the Muscovite admitted that the many training runs the Russians do in the 1384-metre-long ice track of the Sliding Centre Sanki helped them. "The secret on this track is that you simply make fewer mistakes than the others," Bogdanov said, "that's what we did."

World Champion Toni Eggert also confirmed him in this assessment: "This is the hardest track for us in the World Cup, it really challenges you. To get down properly twice is very difficult here." And so all the doubles had their difficulties on the fast track.

The veterans Sics/Sics made it difficult for themselves. "This week we tested new material until we realised we didn't really get it yet," said frontman Andris Sics, "then we went back to the tried and tested sled, but we couldn't do enough runs to adjust to it again." After finishing third, they had to relinquish their overall World Cup lead to the German double Eggert/Benecken.  
 

In race-in-race mode, the America-Pacific Luge Championships will also be held in Sochi on 4-5 December 2021. Originally, the third race of the season of the EBERSPÄCHER series was scheduled for this weekend in Lake Placid (USA). In the doubles' event, the experienced Canadian duo Tristan Walker / Justin Snith from Calgary took the victory on Saturday, 4 December in 1:40.296 ahead of the US-Americans Chris Mazdzer / Jayson Terdiman (+0.200) and the young Canadian students Devin Wardrope / Anthony Zajanski (+0.320). Walker/Snith finished eleventh in the World Cup standings. The award ceremonies for the America-Pacific Championships will be held next week at the 4th EBERSPÄCHER Luge World Cup in Altenberg (GER).

Detailed results and further information on the 3rd EBERSPÄCHER Luge World Cup of the 2021/22 season in Sochi (RUS) can be found at the following link: https://www.fil-luge.org/de/ergebnisse/eberspaecher-weltcup-17

The results for the 2022 America-Pacific Championships can be found here: https://www.fil-luge.org/de/ergebnisse/amerika-pazifik-meisterschaften-9