Max Langenhan continues winning streak - Farewell gala for Chris Mazdzer

Lake Placid (FIL/08 Dec 2023) The EBERSPAECHER Luge World Cup started with the same winner as it ended last season. Max Langenhan achieved his seventh victory in a row. On the 1455 meters long Olympic track at Mount Van Hoevenberg in Lake Placid, the 24-year-old German twice set the fastest time. The total winning time was 1:41.952 minutes. "I am surprised about the big lead," said Langenhan, "we had a difficult week of training and fought until the end. So I'm all the happier that it went so well."

World Champion Jonas Müller finished second, 0.446 seconds behind, ahead of his Austrian teamate Nico Gleirscher (0.633 seconds back). Müller had been the beaming winner at the lugers' last World Cup appearance in Lake Placid four years ago. "Lake Placid is my track," said the 26-year-old, "I hit the difficult middle section really well in both runs." Gleirscher, who was sixth in the second run and finished on the podium, admitted: "I changed a lot from yesterday to today and took more risks after the first run - that went in the right direction." Thanks to this risk, he was able to push American Tucker West off the podium by three thousandths of a second.

But West didn't care at that moment. After the race, it was a team colleague who took center stage. Chris Mazdzer had announced that this would be the last time he would compete in a World Cup race. He finished in twelfth place, earning him a spot in the Sprint World Cup in Lake Placid on Saturday, December 8, and one more farewell run on his home track. The 35-year-old has competed in four Olympic Winter Games. The highlight: silver at the 2018 Games in Pyeongchang.

"After the 2018 Games, Chris' success helped raise the profile of the sport across the country," said USA Luge General Secretary Jim Leahy, "While we will miss Chris as a dedicated athlete, we are grateful for his many successful years and wish him all the best in his next endeavor." From 2019 to 2023, Chris competed in both singles and doubles together with Jayson Terdiman. In addition to his career on the track, he was the athletes' representative of the International Luge Federation (FIL) for many years.