World Champion Kindl continues winning streak in Königssee

Königssee (RWH) World Champion Wolfgang Kindl has started the New Year as he finished the last. After clinching victory in the BMW Sprint World Cup in Lake Placid to see out the old year, the Austrian has now won the first Viessmann World Cup of the Olympic year in Königssee. His compatriot Armin Frauscher finished second ahead of Germany’s Johannes Ludwig in third.

Olympic Champion Felix Loch had looked like a sure-fire winner when he held the lead after the first run, but he made a mistake on the lower section of his home track on the second run and dropped to eleventh in the final classification. Things were even worse for European Champion Semen Pavlichenko (RUS), who dropped from third place to sixteenth.

Andi Langenhan (GER) finished fourth to achieve the internal Olympic standard (minimum of eighth place) required by the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB). This means that Langenhan is now set to compete in his third Olympics, having finished fifth in 2010 and fourth in 2014.

Felix Loch retains his lead in the World Cup rankings with 571 points, ahead of Wolfgang Kindl (529) and Semen Pavlichenko (436).

Quotes

Wolfgang Kindl (AUT / World Champion 2017, Sprint World Champion 2017):

“I’ve started the New Year where I left off at the end of last year. The win in Lake Placid gave me a real boost, and I’m now on top of the health issues that were affecting me at the start of the season. But to be honest, I wouldn’t have beaten Felix here today if he hadn’t made a mistake.”

Armin Frauscher (AUT / U23 World Championship silver medallist 2017):

“I’ve finished second in the World Cup before in Innsbruck, but to do it again here on the Germans’ home track in Königssee is even better. I’m still waiting to find out about whether I’ll make it to the Olympics – the decision probably won’t be made until next week in Oberhof.”

Johannes Ludwig (GER / World Championship fourth in 2017 and World Championship bronze medallist in 2013):

“Who’d have thought I’d come third in Königssee, especially as the track doesn’t rank among my favourites. I’ve been feeling pretty relaxed since my Olympic nomination was confirmed, so maybe that’s the reason behind such a good result.”