Tatyana Ivanova, Reinhard Egger and Eggert/Benecken win BMW Sprint World Cup

Sprint Whistler

Whistler (RWH) Tatyana Ivanova from Russia, the Austrian Reinhard Egger and Germany’s Toni Eggert/Sascha Benecken have all claimed victory in the BMW Sprint World Cup in Whistler.  After the two events in Lake Placid and Whistler, only the finale of the BMW Sprint World Cup remains on the calendar. It will be held on 26 January 2020 in Sigulda (LAT).

Tatyana Ivanova claimed a double victory within a 24-hour period. Just a day after her victory in the Olympic discipline, the three-time European Champion also won the the BMW Sprint World Cup to celebrate the 13th individual victory of her career and move to the top of the Viessmann World Cup standings. Ivanova finished first ahead of the USA’s Emily Sweeney and Cheyenne Rosenthal from Germany in second and third respectively. For Junior World Champion Rosenthal, this was the best result of her career to date.

In the overall World Cup standings, the previous leader Julia Taubitz finished sixth in the sprint and drops back to second place overall on 380 points behind Ivanova (397). Emily Sweeney now lies third with 303 points.  

Reinhard Egger took a surprise victory in the men’s event. Austria’s World Championship silver medallist, who won last season’s Viessmann Luge World Cup at Lake Königssee, relegated Roman Repilov (RUS) to second place. Third place was claimed by World Champion Jonas Müller (AUT). Repilov now leads the overall standings with 430 points ahead of Müller (376) and the USA’s Tucker West (286), who finished sixth in the sprint race in Whistler.

The result of the doubles sprint race was the same as in the Olympic discipline held shortly beforehand. Only it was a much closer finish – just four thousandths of a second separated the top three finishers. Victory went to Toni Eggert/Sascha Benecken, followed by Tobias Wendl/Tobias Arlt (all GER) in second, and the Russian pairing of Vsevolod Kashkin/Konstantin Korshunov in third place.

After five of twelve events, Eggert/Benecken now lead the overall standings of the Viessmann Luge World Cup with 470 points ahead of Wendl/Arlt (425) and the Austrians Thomas Steu/Lorenz Koller (301).

The Whistler Sliding Center is due to host the 50th World Championships of the International Luge Federation (FIL) next winter.

After the Christmas break the Viessmann World Cup racing series will continue with the fourth round in Altenberg (GER) on 11–12 January 2020.