Sprint Champion Roman Repilov also wins men’s gold – drama for Gleirscher

Sochi (RWH) Having already won gold in the non-Olympic sprint, Roman Repilov also won gold to be crowned World Champion in the Olympic men’s discipline. The 23-year-old luger claimed the title at the 49th World Championships of the International Luge Federation (FIL) in Sochi, Russia, to become the second Russian World Champion following Semen Pavlichenko’s title win in 2015. In an exciting tussle in Sanki Sliding Center, Austria’s Jonas Müller won silver while bronze went to his compatriot Wolfgang Kindl.

Olympic Champion David Gleirscher from Austria encountered trouble. Having held the lead after the first run, the 25-year-old crashed on his second run and was not classified. Johannes Ludwig, the 2018 Olympic bronze medallist, came fourth at a FIL World Championships for the fifth time – of which the last three were consecutive.

Repilov propelled himself to the head of the field on his first run, setting a new track record of 51.513 seconds. But David Gleirscher, the Olympic Champion of 2018, countered with a time of 51.466 seconds. The track record of 51.613 seconds set by Felix Loch at the 2014 Winter Olympics was eventually bettered four times. Repilov set the second best time on his second run to clinch the title. Fastest in the second round was Jonas Müller, who won the U23 World Championship title.

Defending Champion Loch did not feature among the medallists as he could manage only a ninth-place finish. European Champion Dominik Fischnaller, who finished third in the Sprint World Championships on Friday, was placed tenth.

Quotes

Roman Repilov (RUS / World Champion 2020, Sprint World Champion 2020, overall winner Viessmann Luge World Cup 2016/17, World Championship silver medallist 2017, World Championship sprint silver medallist in 2017, European Championship runner-up 2016 and 2019)

“I was under pressure. After winning the world title in the sprint I was the favourite on my home track in front of a home crowd. David Gleirscher’s track record inspired me for the second run. I’m really sorry he crashed, but that’s luge for you.”

Jonas Müller (AUT / World Championship silver medallist 2020, Sprint World Champion 2019)

“This is a mega result. I’ve had so much fun here for the last two weeks. I got to grips with the track right from the outset. I’m desperately sorry for David. But it speaks to the strength of the Austrian team that they had another two athletes on the podium.”

Wolfgang Kindl (AUT / World Champion 2017 and Sprint World Champion 2017)

“I didn’t think I was in with a shout of a medal. I knew I could be quick, but could only show it on some parts of the track. We then changed the setup – and lady luck played a part too. You can see with David’s crash on the one hand and what happened to Jonas and I on the other that happiness and despair are close companions in this sport.”