Triumph at the start of 2024: Hannah Prock, Rinks, Upite/Kaluma and Jäger/Steudte dominate at Nations Cup in Winterberg

Winterberg (FIL/05.01.2024) The first FIL Nations Cup of 2024 in the VELTINS EisArena Winterberg (GER) on Friday, January 5, brought victories for Hannah Prock, Kaspars Rinks and the doubles' team of Anda Upite / Zane Kaluma in the women's and Moritz Jäger / Valentin Steudte in the men's doubles.

Hannah Prock won the women's singles Nations Cup in 56.609 seconds. The 23-year-old Austrian was 0.084 seconds faster than the 28-year-old Italian Sandra Robatscher. Third place went to 18-year-old Ambyr-Lee Susko. The Canadian celebrated her first victory at her second Nations Cup in Whistler before Christmas. Susko was only 0.249 seconds behind.

"The track in Winterberg suits me, I don't know why. It's very demanding, especially the women’s start. You have to push and paddle powerful out, what you normally do straight and here you have to go around the corner at the start. That makes it really tricky. It's nice that it was dry today and it should be dry tomorrow for the World Cup. Sledding is just fun here," said the winner Prock and her South Tyrolean friend Sandra Robatscher was also happy with her second place: "It is great to be on the podium at the Nations Cup in a difficult season for me. The fact that I didn't start at the Italian Championships last week was a preventive measure because of my right shoulder injury. A second operation will definitely be necessary after the season, but before that I just have to make it to the World Championships".

In the men's singles, Kaspars Rinks was the man of the day. The Latvian took his first victory by a thousandth of a second in 53.011 seconds and relegated Andriy Mandziy (UKR /+0.001) and Gints Berzins (LAT/ +0.126) to the other podium places. "I am very happy to win the Nations Cup. It was very close, but it was enough for my first victory. For the World Cup race on Sunday, I'm aiming for two clear runs, then I'd be happy," said the 20-year-old from Ropazi.

Moritz Jäger and Valentin Steudte won the Nations Cup men’s doubles with a time of 43.533 seconds. Their German teamates Max Ewald / Jakob Jannusch were second (+0.222), followed by the Americans Dana Kellogg / Frank Ike (USA/+0.238).

Women's doubles is the newest discipline in the Luge World Cup. It will be on the program for the first time at the Olympic Winter Games in February 2026. The newly formed Latvian duo of Anda Upite and Zane Kaluma won the Nations Cup on January 5, 2024 in Winterberg with a time of 44.428 seconds. Their teammates Marta Robezniece/Kitija Bogdanova finished second in 44.490 seconds, while Germany's Eliza Storch/Pauline Patz were third in 44.489 seconds. For the first time in international competition, young Chinese luge athletes Adikeyoumu Gulijienaiti and Jiaying Zhao competed in the doubles' event and impressed on the demanding track in the VELTINS EisArena, finishing just 0.299 seconds behind the winners on fourth place.

The athletes qualify for the EBERSPÄCHER Luge World Cup on Saturday and Sunday through the Nations Cup, which is always held in one run on Friday morning. The twelve fastest sleds from the last three World Cup races are seeded and do not have to qualify for the Nations Cup. For them there will be the training of the seeded group on Friday afternoon as the last run before the World Cup.

All World Cup races can be watched live on the FIL YouTube Channel at FIL Luge - YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@FILLuge_Channel (In Germany, Latvia and Austria the livestream is partly geo-blocked due to live TV transmissions).

Detailed results, TV times and further information about the 3rd EBERSPÄCHER Luge World Cup in Winterberg, the Nations Cup and the training sessions can be found at: fil-luge.org/en/multimedia/eberspaecher-world-cup-28