Johannes Ludwig defies Austria's lugers on their home track

Innsbruck (FIL) The Austrian luge athletes would have loved to triumph in their home race in Innsbruck-Igls. But Johannes Ludwig (Germany) had something against that.

The leader in the EBERSPÄCHER Luge World Cup set the fastest time in both runs. In run one he even set a track record in 49.790 seconds. Wolfgang Kindl came in second. The local hero was only 0.049 seconds behind. Dominik Fischnaller (Italy/0.275 seconds behind) completed the podium.
Behind them followed the pair of brothers Gleirscher. Curiosity: Nico and David were absolutely equal in the addition of both runs with a gap of 0.453 seconds. "My brother totally messed up in the first run," said Olympic Champion David Gleirscher, "so I thought I would copy him. That's super annoying."

Before the race Reinhard Egger had tried to be a prophet: "There is no chance of a track record today," said the Austrian. But this only spurred Johannes Ludwig's ambition even more and he set the best time on the 1270-metre-long ice track. "Luge is just fun at the moment," said the 35-year-old, "I'm in the shape of my life." Ludwig went on to say that he would be happy to have a few more races before the season's highlight. There are exactly four individual World Cups left. In the euphoria over his ninth World Cup success, he has not forgotten that this is not a matter of course because of the Corona pandemic. "What humbles me is what you see with Felix," Ludwig said. Felix Loch had a positive Corona test after last week's race in Altenberg and is in domestic quarantine.

"Maybe it's enough for the very front?", Wolfgang Kindl had hoped after his second run in 49.832 seconds. But it was not quite enough. After a short phase of disappointment, the luger from Innsbruck had quickly regained his composure. "I am absolutely happy," he said and beamed on the podium with Dominik Fischnaller. "I did two super runs, I'm super happy," said the South Tyrolean, "from week to week it's going better."
Super happy were all three that 300 fans were able to watch their race. As a reward, they threw their flowers onto the stands.   

Detailed results and further information about the 5th EBERSPÄCHER Luge World Cup in Innsbruck-Tyrol can be found under the following link: https://www.fil-luge.org/de/ergebnisse/eberspaecher-weltcup-1