Like Max Langenhan: bib number 27 brings luck for Julia Taubitz

Altenberg (FIL/04. Feb. 2024) The weather was not kind to the women at the EBERSPAECHER Luge World Cup in Altenberg: five degrees Celsius and rain. A look at the result list does not give any clue about the games with equipment and start numbers: Julia Taubitz won her third World Cup race of the season in 1:47.971 minutes. But the 27-year-old German had two very different runs. With a time of 54.774 seconds, she was only 22nd, 0.878 seconds behind the halftime leader Verena Hofer (Italy). This gave her an early start in the second run. The World Championship runner-up made the most of this advantage with the fastest run (53.197). But for a long time, Taubitz was not sure if this would be enough for her 24th World Cup victory. "I was trembling until the end".

Elina Vitola had a similar experience. The Latvian was 15th fastest after the first run and posted the third best time in the second heat, which earned her second place (0.149 seconds back). At the podium she said: "Julia, the runner-up, is on top of the podium and the World Champion has also made it". One week after the title fights, Lisa Schulte was able to wear the World Champion's jersey for the first time. "This jersey gave me an extra boost," said the Austrian. She finished third, 0.297 seconds back.

The World Champion was not alone in her assessment that the conditions were difficult. She even thought they were unfair. Especially for her team-mate Madeleine Egle. In eighth place (0.447) the three-time World Cup winner in this season lost a lot of ground in the overall standings to Taubitz. The current standings: 555:457 points.

Fourth-placed Anna Berreiter (0.326) best described how the runs felt for the lugers: "It was actually very easy to sled because it was very slow with a lot of grip." Emily Sweeney had a similar story to Taubitz. The American was in 26th place after the first run, but after posting the second-best time in the second run, she moved up to fifth place, 0.351 seconds behind Taubitz.

Julia Taubitz could have done without the worry. She only had to think of the men's race and her team-mate Max Langenhan. He came from 21st place to win on Saturday. What did Langenhan and Taubitz have in common in Altenberg? They both had bib number 27.