The women's doubles like it close, clear-cut in the men's event
Oberhof (FIL/17. Feb. 2024) Thomas Steu and Wolfgang Kindl have finally found each other. The two Austrians are racing the doubles competitions together in their first season at the EBERSPAECHER Luge World Cup after Steu's long-time partner Lorenz Koller retired. As in the previous week, they were unbeatable in Oberhof. They have now won three of the last four World Cup races. And they lead the overall World Cup with 686 points. Their German rivals Tobias Wendl/Tobias Arlt (560) are in second place.
Steu/Kindl laid the foundation for their success in Oberhof in the first run, when they were almost a tenth of a second ahead of Wendl/Arlt in 41.552 seconds. "Despite small mistakes, we had a great run in the first heat and a great lead of ninety-nine thousandths," said Kindl, "we were able to manage it a little in the second run." It was enough, the gap to the six-time Olympic Champions Wendl/Arlt was 0.073 seconds.
Local heroes Hannes Orlamünder and Paul Gubitz once again made it onto the podium in third place, 0.119 seconds behind. "In the first run, we made a big mistake in curve 13 and lost a bit of time," said an annoyed Orlamünder, "but we drove really well in the second run." Gubitz analyzed the reason why it wasn't enough for second place like a week ago: "We started too slowly against the Tobis today." With six paddle strokes, one more than all the other starters, they accelerated into the course as the fastest in both heats. Wendl also confirms this: "We're really good at the start at the moment."
Fourth-placed Martins Bots/Roberts Plume (Latvia) were already 0.319 seconds behind the winners. They were followed by Ivan Nagler and Fabian Malleier (Italy/0.391) and World Champions Juri Gatt/Riccardo Schöpf (Austria/0.538). The Americans Zachary di Gregorio and Sean Hollander, who won their home race in Lake Placid at the start of the season, finished ninth, 0.676 seconds behind.
The doubles' race of the women was very close. Dajana Eitberger and Saskia Schirmer achieved their first joint World Cup victory in 1:25.889 minutes. Eitberger already has ten in the singles. Nevertheless, she gave her co-driver, who was close to tears of joy, a big hug. "The first World Cup victory in our first season," said Schirmer, "I would never have thought that possible." Eitberger remembers their journey together from the start in the fall, when they crashed several times, to their first success: "In doubles, I still lack the routine that others already have," she says, "sometimes I still need too long to react correctly."
The Italians Andrea Vötter and Marion Oberhofer were only eight thousandths of a second slower. "It was incredibly exciting," said Oberhofer. And front driver Vötter added: "We cheered more than the winners. The points are important in terms of the overall World Cup." Because their rivals for this trophy, Jessica Degenhardt/Cheyenne Rosenthal, ended up in third place despite setting a track record of 42.852 seconds in the first run. A thousandth of a second separated the two Germans from Vötter/Oberhofer, who have retaken the lead in the overall World Cup.
Selina Egle and Lara Kipp followed at a distance. The 2024 World Champions in Altenberg were already 0.239 seconds behind the winners. "We were too slow at the start," said Egle, "you can't make up for that on this track." They were followed by Anda Upite/Kirija Bogdanova (Latvia/0.535) and Chevonne Forgan and Sophia Kirkby (USA/0.559), who set a new start record of 7.675 in the second run.
Schedule for Sunday:
7. EBERSPÄCHER Luge World Cup, Oberhof 2 (GER)
Local start time (=CET/MEZ)
Sunday, February 18, 2024
09:30 Women’s Singles, 1st run
10:55 Women’s Singles, 2nd run
12:30 Sprint Men’s Singles
13:20 Sprint Men’s Doubles
13:50 Sprint Women’s Doubles
14:35 Sprint Women’s Singles
Subject to change without notice!
Live TV-Broadcast: fil-luge.org/en/multimedia/eberspaecher-world-cup-29
Link to athletes‘ biographies: Athletes Overview & Achievements - Int. Luge Federation FIL (fil-luge.org)
