Selina Egle and Lara Kipp dominate on their home track

Innsbruck (FIL/07 Dec 2024) Selina Egle and Lara Kipp left nothing to be desired in their home race in the Innsbruck-Igls ice track in the EBERSPAECHER Luge World Cup. The two Austrians confidently set the fastest time in both runs. They were on their way in the 200-meter-longer track under the modified conditions in 1:33.499 minutes. World Cup victory number eight. They were the first to enter the list of track records with 46.736 seconds. “The longer track suits us because we're not that good at the start,” said frontwoman Egle, adding after her poor start to the season with sixth place: ‘It's fun to be at the top and put a little pressure on the others.’ Cheyenne Rosenthal had words of appreciation: ”The girls are awesome. They did two great runs.”

The German team, with topwoman Jessica Degenhardt, took second place. In 1:33.850 minutes, they were already 0.351 seconds behind. While they didn't hit the line cleanly in turn nine in the first heat and therefore came very close to the boards in the following ten, Degenhardt said of her second heat: “The second heat was the best of the week. We can be very satisfied with that.” And Rosenthal emphasized one detail: ‘With the starting record in the second run, we have reported again.’ They hold it with 9.365 seconds.

Anda Upite and Zane Kaluma were overjoyed. The two Latvians made it to the podium together for the first time, after just missing out on a spot last week. Although their gap of 0.610 seconds is quite considerable, Upite said, “We're really happy with this result.”

Andrea Voetter and Marion Oberhofer (Italy), last season's overall World Cup winners, are also slowly improving. After finishing fifth in Lillehammer, they took fourth place in Igls, 0.740 seconds behind. Chevonne Chelsea Forgan and Sophia Kirkby (USA/0.843) were the winners of the opening race. The second German doubles team also improved, even though more than sixth place (0.864) would have been possible for Dajana Eitberger and Magdalena Matschina, because after the first run they were in third place. “At least it was an improvement on last week, we finished both runs,” said the experienced Eitberger, who still needs to fine-tune the coordination with her new lower woman.