Junior titles shared among three nations: two gold medals for Julia Taubitz

Winterberg (RWH)  Three nations have taken victory at the 31st Junior World Championships staged by the International Luge Federation on the artificial ice track in Winterberg. Germany’s Julia Taubitz emerged victorious in the women’s race on Saturday, while Russian slider Roma Repilov won the men’s event. The Austrian duo of David Trojer and Philip Knoll and the German relay team featuring Julia Taubitz, Maximilian Jung and Florian Löffler/Manuel Stiebing won Sunday’s races.

After finishing sixth in the World Championships and being crowned U23 World Champion just one week earlier, Julia Taubitz was the most successful competitor, taking home two gold medals. The Saxon slider secured victory in the women’s competition ahead of her teammates Tina Müller and Alisa Dengler. Roman Repilov, who also competes in the Viessmann Luge World Cup, relegated Latvian Kristers Aparjods and Germany’s Maximilian Jung into second and third places respectively in the men’s event.

In the doubles, defending champions Florian Löffler and Manuel Stiebing (GER) finished second behind Trojer/Knoll. Bronze went to local heroes Nico Semmler/Johannes Pfeiffer. The USA (Gracie Weinberg, Jonathan Gustafson and Benjamin Farquharson/Christian Colaiezzi) took silver in the team relay, with bronze going to Austria (Sarah Tomaselli, Nico Gleirscher and Trojer/Knoll).