Lillehammer (pps) World Champion Natalie Geisenberger of Germany put an exclamation mark to kick off the new season. The dominating luger in the women’s singles in the past pre-Olympic season – she earned a gold medal at the World and European Championships and, to crown it all, became overall Viessmann World Cup winner – won the season opener of the Viessmann LugeWorld Cup series in Lillehammer, Norway. It was her 17th individual World Cup victory.

After the first run, however, the 2010 Olympic bronze medalist was behind Kate Hansen (USA) on second place only. But the 2008 junior World Champion, who competed despite a broken bone in her foot, dropped to 12th place after the second run. The best result so far for Hansen was a six-place finish in Lake Placid (USA) in the 2012-2013 season.

Two-time European Champion Tatiana Ivanova of Russia took the second place behind Geisenberger. Alex Gough of Canada, who earned bronze at the last World Championships, finished in third place.
Quotes

Natalie Geisenberger (GER / 2013 World Champion, 2010 Olympic bronze medalist, 2012 World bronze medalist, 2008 and 2013 European Champion) “Actually, with the two victories at our national seeding races on the Olympic luge track in Sochi and today’s win under my belt, I will surely have punched my ticket to the Olympic Games…”

Tatiana Ivanova (RUS / two-time European Champion) “I’m quite happy with my performance even though I made some mistakes. However, it’s a success to start into an Olympic season with a second-place finish.”

Alex Gough (CAN / 2011 and 2013 World bronze medalist) “My last race on this track was nine years ago. This is why the third place is a great result. Four years ago, all Canadian athletes prepared on the Olympic luge track in Whistler and did not compete at the World Cup event in Lillehammer. It was in the junior series that I competed here in Lillehammer. -