Jonas Müller wins neck-and-neck race in Lake Placid

Lake Placid (RWH) The men’s final in Lake Placid was a close-run thing – just 25 thousandths of a second separated the winner from the fifth-placed lugers, who both set exactly the same time. Jonas Müller took victory in the thrilling second round of the Viessmann World Cup race in Lake Placid, following on from his win in the season opener in Innsbruck. Second place went to local hero Tucker West ahead of Italy’s Dominik Fischnaller.

Roman Repilov (RUS), who had won the previous two races in Lake Placid, finished fourth this year. Fifth place was shared by his compatriot Semen Pavlichenko and Latvian Kristers Aparjods. The German lugers were not in contention. Their best result was former Junior World Champion Max Langenhan in ninth.

On the first run, nine sliders beat the old track record of 50.875 seconds which was set by Repilov two years ago. Tucker West set the new benchmark of 50.607 seconds in the first heat.

The Viessmann Luge World Cup moves on to Whistler, Canada, in two weekends’ time.

Quotes

Jonas Müller (AUT / Sprint Champion 2019, Junior European Champion 2016)

“I really enjoyed that! I experienced some difficulties in training. I only managed my first good run in the final training session. But I didn’t think it would be enough to take the win with these ice conditions. I used to get too tense, and now I’m trying to keep things loose.”

Dominik Fischnaller (ITA / World Championship bronze medallist 2017, World Championship Sprint bronze medallist 2017)

“I’ve had a great start to the season. Unfortunately I made too many mistakes the first run. Otherwise, a win might have been on the cards.”