US one-two finish for Mazdzer and West after error by Loch

Lake Placid (RWH) Two-time Olympic Champion Felix Loch has failed to win the Viessmann World Cup at Lake Placid. One week after he was disqualified from the season opener in Innsbruck, the four-time World Champion had to settle for sixth place on the challenging ice track at Mount van Hoevenberg after a mistake caused him to drop back from the lead he had held at half-time. As a result, the 26-year-old is still waiting for his first World Cup victory at Lake Placid, where he took his only win to date when he became World Champion in 2009.

The win went to local slider Chris Mazdzer of the USA, who relegated his compatriot and last year’s winner Tucker West to second place. This was Mazdzer’s second win in the Viessmann World Cup. It was the first US one-two finish since 1996, when three US doubles teams stood on the podium in Lillehammer. Austrian Wolfgang Kindl clinched third in Lake Placid, as he did a week ago in Innsbruck.

“No comment,” said Felix Loch, who was disqualified in Innsbruck as his sled exceeded the maximum allowed weight. “It’s such a tough loss.” Following the German men’s poor performance last year, the team travelled to Lake Placid, NY, for a special training session three weeks ago. The trip was rewarded with fourth place for Julian von Schleinitz, fifth for Ralf Palik, sixth for Felix Loch and seventh for Johannes Ludwig.

 Stimmen

Chris Mazdzer (USA / sixth in 2015 World Championships)

“This feels awesome to do it on your home track. It sped up for the race runs. All the training we had here at the beginning of the year, the thousands of runs we’ve taken. It finally paid off by having that experience and making it down both runs. Felix Loch will fight back over the winter, I’m convinced of that.”

Tucker West (USA / winner of Viessmann World Cup at Lake Placid 2014/2015)

“This is my home track. We’ve always been pretty fast here. It was a great day. Chris and I both showed up.There were a few hiccups on the run, but overall I could not have asked for a better day. I’m super excited where we ended up with two Americans on the podium. That’s huge for America.”

Wolfgang Kindl (AUT, World Championship bronze medallist in 2015 and Junior World Champion 2008)

“A podium place is always good but I was only a few hundredths of a second off the win. But maybe luck will be on my side again this winter.”