UNTERAMMERGAU. With the races in Unterammergau (GER), the Junior Luge World Cup on Natural Track 2016/2017 came to an end on Sunday, January 22nd.

In the overall standings of the women, three Italian athletes are at the top: Daniela Mittermair, who ranked second in Unterammergau, wins the women’s Junior Luge World Cup ahead of her compatriots Camilla Singer and Nadine Staffler. In this season, Mittermair was always right in the front: With two victories and two seconds ranks, she gained 370 points in total. Singer was able to outpace Staffler due to her win in Unterammergau: She has 290 points in total and ranks second in the overall standings, while Staffler ranks third with a total of 260 points. In Unterammergau, the German Athlete Theresa Maurer came in third.

The last race in Germany proved to be crucial regarding the overall standings of the men’s Junior Luge World Cup: Jack Leslie (NZL), who was the only athlete to reach the top three in every competition this season, was in the lead before the race in Unterammergau took place. But in the end, two Austrians stand on top: Fabian Achenrainer and Florian Markt came in first and second, respectively, in Unterammergau and thus gained enough points to outpace the previous Junior Luge World Cup champion from New Zealand, who now ranks third in the overall standings with a total of 325 points. Markt (330) ranks second with only five points more than Leslie, while Achenrainer, this year’s champion of the Junior Luge World Cup, has a total of 345 points.

Achenrainer was also able to win the Junior Luge World Cup of the doubles along with his teammate Miguel Brugger: The Austrians, who have 385 points in total, won three of four races and  had a nearly perfect season – only in Laas/Lasa (ITA) they were not able to win and ranked second behind Manuel Gaio/Nicolo Debertolis (ITA). The Italian pairing, who came in second in Unterammergau, has 315 points in total and ranks second in the overall standings of the doubles. Kirill Kravchuck/Aleksandr Zyrianov (RUS), who came in fourth in Unterammergau just behind the Ukrainians Andriy Demchuck/Myroslav Lenko, have a total score of 285 points in the overall standings and rank third.

From February 11th to 12th, the Junior athletes will have another chance to demonstrate their skills, when the FIL Junior European Championships on Luge on Natural Track take place in Umhausen (AUT).

Results:
http://www.fil-luge.org/en/multimedia/fil-junior-world-cup-on-luge-on-natural-track