From Winterberg, GER
It was a German sweep of the podium to open the 2016/2017 World Cup season. Natalie Geisenberger carried a .15 second advantage over teammate Tatjana Hüfner into the second heat on the strength of a track record. Geisenberger’s second run was even quicker, keeping her ahead of Hüfner in the final tally by just over .4 seconds, and keeping Hüfner from scoring her record tying 37th win.
Dajana Eitberger finished third to complete the German sweep. Julia Taubitz, the fourth German slider, finished 13th. Her top 15 finish places her in Sunday’s sprint competition, which is reserved for the top 15 of each discipline.
Birgit Platzer finished fourth with a very strong set of runs for Austria. Tatyana Ivanova of Russia had an amazing second run, moving up from tenth place in the first run to fifth overall, while Canadian Kimberley McRae finished sixth.
It was a tough day for the Americans, with all four women finding trouble at least once between their two runs. Emily Sweeney was the top scoring slider for USA Luge finishing ninth. two spots ahead of teammate Summer Britcher, who finished 11th. Erin Hamlin had trouble in her second run and fell back to 14th, while Raychel Germaine finished 21st.
Alex Gough joined McRae in the top ten for Canada with a tenth place finish.
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
| 1 | Natalie Geisenberger | GER | 24 | 4.930 | 4.921 | 55.401 | 55.323 | 1:50.724 |
| 2 | Tatjana Hüfner | GER | 20 | 4.970 | 4.971 | 55.558 | 55.574 | 1:51.132 |
| 3 | Dajana Eitberger | GER | 16 | 5.033 | 5.046 | 55.712 | 55.677 | 1:51.389 |
| 4 | Birgit Platzer | AUT | 13 | 5.092 | 5.090 | 55.775 | 55.823 | 1:51.598 |
| 5 | Tatyana Ivanova | RUS | 22 | 4.985 | 5.002 | 56.016 | 55.764 | 1:51.780 |
| 6 | Kimberley McRae | CAN | 12 | 4.975 | 4.999 | 55.925 | 55.865 | 1:51.790 |
| 7 | Martina Kocher | SUI | 19 | 5.026 | 5.025 | 55.941 | 55.894 | 1:51.835 |
| 8 | Ulla Zirne | LAT | 8 | 5.120 | 5.112 | 56.005 | 55.840 | 1:51.845 |
| 9 | Emily Sweeney | USA | 15 | 5.111 | 5.088 | 56.114 | 55.781 | 1:51.895 |
| 10 | Alex Gough | CAN | 11 | 4.970 | 4.969 | 56.042 | 55.887 | 1:51.929 |
| 11 | Summer Britcher | USA | 18 | 5.058 | 5.039 | 55.933 | 56.026 | 1:51.959 |
| 12 | Eliza Cauce | LAT | 23 | 4.974 | 4.986 | 56.129 | 55.843 | 1:51.972 |
| 13 | Julia Taubitz | GER | 1 | 5.074 | 5.085 | 55.996 | 55.982 | 1:51.978 |
| 14 | Erin Hamlin | USA | 21 | 5.031 | 5.043 | 56.053 | 56.038 | 1:52.091 |
| 15 | Sandra Robatscher | ITA | 14 | 5.069 | 5.041 | 56.201 | 56.145 | 1:52.346 |
| 16 | Ekaterina Baturina | RUS | 17 | 5.013 | 5.019 | 56.209 | 56.281 | 1:52.490 |
| 17 | Ewa Kuls | POL | 6 | 5.027 | 5.062 | 56.291 | 56.337 | 1:52.628 |
| 18 | Ekaterina Katnikova | RUS | 9 | 5.063 | 5.073 | 56.342 | 56.345 | 1:52.687 |
| 19 | Raluca Stramaturaru | ROU | 5 | 5.150 | 5.187 | 56.553 | 56.357 | 1:52.910 |
| 20 | Miriam Kastlunger | AUT | 7 | 5.075 | 5.101 | 56.814 | 56.104 | 1:52.918 |
| 21 | Raychel Germaine | USA | 4 | 5.124 | 5.167 | 56.366 | 56.609 | 1:52.975 |
| 22 | Madeleine Egle | AUT | 2 | 5.141 | 5.093 | 56.423 | 56.554 | 1:52.977 |
| 23 | Andrea Vötter | ITA | 10 | 5.152 | 5.146 | 56.594 | 56.445 | 1:53.039 |
| 24 | Natalie Maag | SUI | 3 | 5.060 | 5.059 | 56.637 | 56.609 | 1:53.246 |
