2016/2017 FIL World Cup - Women's Luge - Race 6

From Sigulda, LAT

Natalie Geisenberger won her third race of the season, and second in a row, in Latvia. Unlike her teammates in doubles luge, Geisenberger never had the quickest time, putting down the second fastest in each heat on her way to a gold medal.

Geisenberger’s teammate, Tatjana Hüfner, did put down a heat-fastest run in the second run to move from third to second, just ahead of Tatyana Ivanova. Ivanova struggled in her second heat and made a big mistake halfway down the Latvian track. The Russian couldn’t make up the time, and fell back to third overall after two runs to win bronze.

Victoria Demchenko finished fourth as she continued her comeback, having missed the first part of the season due to injury, while Kimberley McRae was the top-scoring North American in fifth. Birgit Platzer rounded out the top six with a sixth place run.

The United States didn’t necessarily “struggle” in Latvia, with three of the for American women finishing just outside of the top six. Summer Britcher led the way in seventh, with Erin Hamlin and Emily Sweeney right behind her in eighth and ninth. Raychel Germaine finished 23rd after having trouble in her second run.

Alex Gough of Canada finished 13th, just behind the two Latvians. Both Eliza Cauce and Ulla Zirne struggled to find speed on their home ice, and neither could work their way into the top ten.

Results:

Pos	Name	Nation	Bib	Start 1	Start 2	Run 1	Run 2	Total
1	Natalie Geisenberger	GER	22	1.630	1.635	41.675	41.810	1:23.485
2	Tatjana Hüfner	GER	19	1.622	1.627	41.760	41.753	1:23.513
3	Tatyana Ivanova	RUS	20	1.617	1.624	41.583	42.033	1:23.616
4	Victoria Demchenko	RUS	13	1.673	1.665	41.925	41.859	1:23.784
5	Kimberley yMcRae	CAN	16	1.651	1.653	41.859	41.986	1:23.845
6	Birgit Platzer	AUT	15	1.673	1.673	41.962	41.934	1:23.896
7	Summer Britcher	USA	17	1.644	1.642	41.919	42.002	1:23.921
8	Erin Hamlin	USA	23	1.651	1.665	41.901	42.112	1:24.013
9	Emily Sweeney	USA	24	1.654	1.653	42.006	42.111	1:24.117
10	Martina Kocher	SUI	12	1.651	1.646	42.042	42.099	1:24.141
11	Eliza Cauce	LAT	18	1.625	1.630	42.264	41.919	1:24.183
12	Ulla Zirne	LAT	10	1.687	1.700	42.185	42.001	1:24.186
13	Alex Gough	CAN	21	1.645	1.649	42.274	42.202	1:24.476
14	Andrea Vötter	ITA	8	1.670	1.660	42.244	42.239	1:24.483
15	Ewa Kuls	POL	9	1.661	1.653	42.380	42.229	1:24.609
16	Ekaterina Katnikova	RUS	6	1.654	1.656	42.463	42.234	1:24.697
17	Kendija Aparjode	LAT	11	1.700	1.702	42.708	42.019	1:24.727
18	Ekaterina Baturina	RUS	7	1.632	1.643	42.751	42.122	1:24.873
19	Eunryng Sung	KOR	3	1.663	1.658	42.630	42.359	1:24.989
20	Raluca Stramaturaru	ROU	2	1.701	1.703	42.526	42.487	1:25.013
21	Natalie Maag	SUI	4	1.683	1.710	42.731	42.609	1:25.340
22	Olena Shkhumova	UKR	1	1.694	1.705	42.655	43.102	1:25.757
23	Raychel Germaine	USA	5	1.685	1.689	43.246	52.420	1:35.666
DNF	Miriam Kastlunger	AUT	14	1.680		DNF