Tucker West:  From Zero to Hero 

Lake Placid (RWH) From zero to hero in less than a week: six days after his disqualification in Winterberg, US luger Tucker West made an impressive return to form at the Viessmann Luge World Cup. On his home track at Mount Van Hoevenberg in Lake Placid, the current U23 World Champion celebrated the second singles victory of his career to claim 100 points and put last weekend’s misery in Hochsauerland behind him. 21-year-old West, who was excluded from the Winterberg race for being overweight, took his maiden win in the Viessmann World Cup on the same track during the 2013/2014 winter season.

Second place went to Russian Semen Pavlichenko, as the 2015 World and European Champion ended the day just six thousandths of a second behind West after two runs. Austrian Wolfgang Kindl took third to claim a hat-trick of consecutive podiums at Lake Placid.

The two-time Olympic Champion Felix Loch, however, will have to wait even longer for his first World Cup victory on the demanding artificial ice track at Mount Van Hoevenberg. The defending Viessmann World Cup title-holder, who won the second of his five World Championship titles on this track back in 2009 but has still does not have a Viessmann World Cup win in the Adirondack Mountains to his name, came home in sixth.

However, he still managed to take the lead in the overall standings of the Viessmann World Cup on 210 points, just one point ahead of first round winner Johannes Ludwig (GER). The Russian Roman Repilov currently lies third (186).

Quotes

Tucker West (USA / U23 World Champion 2016)

“It sounds pretty good – 0 to 100 in the space of a week. Last week’s disqualification was unfortunate because it meant I also missed the sprint and so was effectively unable to get any points in two races.”

Semen Pavlichenko (RUS / World Champion 2015 and European Champion 2015)

“I would like to thank my trainers Sergey Chudinov and Albert Demchenko, and our team doctor, who have all helped me a lot. I’m looking forward to seeing my wife who was here in Lake Placid to watch me in action. Our child is being looked after at home by its grandmother.”

Wolfgang Kindl (AUT / World Championship bronze medallist in 2015 and 2016)

“I’m delighted to be on the podium for the third time in a row here. But to be honest, victory was definitely on the cards this time. Maybe we took to much of a risk in terms of our materials. But anyway, this first podium makes me optimistic about the rest of the winter.”