Jonas Müller - with track record to European Championship title

Innsbruck (FIL/14.01.2024) Right from the start, Jonas Müller left nothing to be desired at the EBERSPAECHER Luge World Cup in Innsbruck-Igls. With a track record of 49.288 seconds in the first run the Austrian laid the foundation for his third World Cup victory. And his first European Championship title. His final time was 1:38.655 minutes. That was 0.326 seconds faster than his team-mate Nico Gleirscher, who held the track record (49.539).

Defending champion Max Langenhan, who has won ten World Cup races in a row, finished third (0.428 seconds back). As he left the track, the German said: "It was bad and I'm really unhappy. I didn't manage to give my best, neither at the start nor on the track. That's why I deserved to be so far behind at the end."

After the first run it looked like an all-Austrian podium. Behind Müller and Nico Gleirscher, his brother David was third. But in the second run the 2018 Olympic Champion made a mistake in curve nine, which meant he arrived too late in curve ten and got into trouble. The result: fifth place, 0.544 seconds behind. In front of him was Kristers Aparjods (Latvia/0.499).

Meanwhile, Jonas Mueller revelled in his good fortune. "It is great to win at home," said the 26-year-old. The material was perfect, he said, and he had a good start. "It felt like fine luge, no pressure," he described his two runs, "so it was fast." He didn't want to draw any comparisons with his world championship titles - 2019 in the sprint and 2023 in the individual. "It's a different title - great."

Gints Berzins won the title at the U23 European Championships. The Latvian finished twelfth (1,471) in the overall standings. Silver went to Germany's Timon Grancagnolo, bronze to Lukas Peccei (Italy).