2016/2017 FIL World Cup – Women’s Luge – Race 7

From Oberhof, GER

The sport of luge prides itself on how close its racing can be, and the timing to a thousandth of a second is indicative of that. In Oberhof, that timing was also how a winner was determined.

Germany had dominated the first half of the weekend in Oberhof, and it was clear the women’s luge gold medal would also belong to Germany. The only question was to whom would it belong?

Coming into the second run, Tatjana Hüfner had a slight lead over her teammate Natalie Geisenberger. On that second run Geisenberger broke the track record, putting the pressure on Hüfner. Hüfner was faster than her first run, but only the third quickest in the heat, giving the gold medal to Geisenberger.

The win was Geisenberger’s fourth of the season, and third in four races. Hüfner’s silver was her second in three races.

Tatyana Ivanova helped keep the Germans from sweeping the podium with a third place finish, finishing just ahead of Dajana Eitberger. Eitberger came into the second run in 14th, but a blistering second trip down moved her up to fourth place.

Canadian Kimberley McRae finished fifth as the top North American, while Miriam Kastlunger finished sixth.

Summer Britcher led the way for the United States. She came into her second run in fourth place, but struggled on that second run, falling to seventh. Teammate Erin Hamlin moved up from 12th to eighth to help put two Americans in the top 10. Emily Sweeney finished 12th, and Raychel Germaine 24th to round out the American effort.

Alex Gough finished 10th as the second Canadian effort.

Results: