Just like in the World Cup: Max Langenhan also confident at World Championships in Altenberg

Altenberg (FIL/27 Jan 2024) At the 52nd FIL Luge World Championships in Altenberg, Germany, World Cup Champion Max Langenhan won his first individual World Championship title. With best times of 53.943 and 53.870 seconds. This resulted in a final time of 1:47.813 minutes. Even though his commanding lead of three quarters of a second does not suggest it, it was an exciting decision. Due to special circumstances.

The 24-year-old German took silver at last year's World Cup in Oberhof. Just like the day before in Altenberg in the sprint. "Max is sensational with his huge lead," said a delighted national coach Norbert Loch, "I am careful with superlatives, but he raced  like a god in the second run. The new champion was jubilant: "It's unbelievable. I was unsure before the second run because all the other guys had already lost ground, so I thought I had to have a perfect run. I'm super happy that I did.”

While Langenhan was undeterred in his line on the difficult Altenberg ice track, his immediate rivals had their difficulties after the first run. Sprint World Champion David Gleirscher (Austria) dropped from second place to seventh (1.111 seconds back). "I feel sorry for David because he has the same potential," said Langenhan. Dominik Fischnaller was hit even harder. The Italian was in third place and on course for a medal, but a near crash cost him a lot of time and a better result than 18th place, 4.761 seconds behind.

His younger brother Nico filled in for David Gleirscher. After the fourth fastest run in the first heat, the 24-year-old from Tyrol followed with the third fastest run - silver, 0.761 seconds behind. And his first World Championship medal. "It just motivates you when you see that the time board is green", said Gleirscher about his run.

Felix Loch did even better in the second run. After three years without a medal in an individual World Championship race, the 14-time World champion secured bronze. His gap: 0.817 seconds. "I said before the run that I would go all out," said Loch, "I didn't want to finish fourth or fifth again. The fact that it worked out like this is of course unbelievable. National coach Norbert Loch praised his performance: "Felix deserved third place today. It's a great success for him. With this World Championship bronze medal, Loch is now tied with the all-time leader in the Men’s singles Luge World Championship rankings. Italy’s Armin Zoeggeler has also won six gold medals, three silver and one bronze medal in the individual luge World Championships.

Tucker West just missed the podium. The US American was 65 thousandths of a second behind Loch and 0.882 seconds behind winner Langenhan. Australian Alexander Ferlazzo was happy with his fifth place (0.992 seconds back). This is the best World Championship result for an Australian, who trains with the Canadian team under head coach Robert Fegg.

In addition to Max Langenhan, there was a second gold medal for the German team in this race. Timon Grancagnolo won the U-23 category in 1:49.136 minutes. Latvian Gints Berzins was only one thousandth of a second slower. In third place, 0.619 seconds behind Grancagnolo: Alex Gufler (Italy).