UMHAUSEN. From January 27th to 28th 2018, the fourth, and final, event of the Junior Luge World Cup 2017/2018 was held in Umhausen (AUT). There, the winners of the overall standings were finally determined.

At the men’s event, Fabian Achenrainer (AUT) was able to defend his title: The Austrian, who had ranked second behind his teammate Florian Markt before the final competition, won the race in Umhausen ahead of the Italians Laurin Jakob Kompatscher and Daniel Gruber and therefore also emerged victorious in the overall Junior World Cup. With a total of 345 points, he had 30 points more than runner-up Markt, and 50 points more than Kompatscher, who ranked third in the overall standings.

At the women’s event, the Italian Nadine Staffler claimed the title. A third rank in Umhausen behind her teammate Camilla Singer and Lisa Walch (GER) was enough for Staffler to win the overall Junior World Cup: She was the only athlete who stood on the podium after every race, in the end she had a margin of 50 points. Christa Unterholzner, another Italian, ranked second, while Walch ranked third.

At the doubles’ event, Fabian Achenrainer/Miguel Brugger (AUT) were unbeatable this season: The Austrians won every race, gained a total of 400 points and therefore defended their title. The battle for the second rank, however, was more than close: Kirill Kravchuk/Aleksandr Zyrianov (RUS) and Josef Limmer/Simon Dietz (GER) not only had the same number of points, but also the same number of second and third ranks, so the placement in the very last race became the deciding factor – with the better end for the Russians, who came in second in Umhausen ahead of Limmer/Dietz and therefore also ranked second in the overall standings. The Germans, in turn, had to be content with the third rank.

The Junior World Cup season may be over, however, there is still a highlight to come: From February 2nd–4th 2018, the athletes will fight for medals in Laas/Lasa (ITA), where the 11th FIL Junior World Championships will be held.

Results:
http://www.fil-luge.org/en/multimedia/fil-junioren-luge-world-cup-on-natural-track-3

Overall standings:
Men: http://www.fil-luge.org/cdn/uploads/gesamt-herren-junioren.pdf
Women: http://www.fil-luge.org/cdn/uploads/gesamt-damen-junioren.pdf
Doubles: http://www.fil-luge.org/cdn/uploads/gesamt-doppel-junioren.pdf