From Oberhof, GER
(December 14, 2024) – Traditionally, Oberhof has been about as much of a home-field advantage as the German luge program has had. But a few hours after Selina Egle and Lara Kipp set a track record in the women’s doubles race, Madeleine Egle and Lisa Schulte went one-two in the women’s singles race.
Egle was the 15th slider off the top in the first heat, and opened up a .082 second advantage over German rival Julia Taubitz, with Schulte in third only .012 back in third place. The remainder of the field found themselves well outside of the battle for the medals.
In the second heat Schulte put down a really quick run, the second fastest of the race to that point, to take the lead ahead of Germany’s Merle Fräbel.
Taubitz was next. Her start was quick, and timing and scoring had her neck-and-neck with Schulte throughout her slide. However, Schulte was .031 quicker in her second run, enough to hold onto the lead and guarantee Austria a gold medal, the nation’s second of the day.
The only question left to answer was who would take the gold, Schulte or Egle?
The answer was Egle. She set the start record in her second effort, and put down the quickest run of the race on her way to a .156 second victory over Schulte, with Taubitz third.
The only issue with Egle’s second run may have been a slight distraction from the public address announcer.
“I feel amazing,” she told FIL TV after the race. “But I heard that I had the start record while I was sliding! My run wasn’t that great, but I made it work with my start!”
Fräbel finished the race in fourth place, coninuing a strong start to her season, while Farquharson finished fifth.
Barbara Allmaier rounded out the top six for Austria.
Summer Britcher finished 14th for the United States, while teammate Emma Erickson rounded out the top 20 in 20th.
Emily Sweeney was a scratch as she took the race off to rest a neck injury.
Canada placed two sliders in the top 20, with Caitlin Nash edging out teammate Trinity Ellis for 17th. Ellis took 18th, and Carolyn Maxwell 29th.
Argentina’s Veronica Ravenna finished 26th.
Three races into the FIL World Cup women’s luge season, Julia Taubitz has won one of each medal and leads by nine points over Madeleine Egle. Lisa Schulte is third with two bronzes and a silver, while Merle Fräbel sits fourth.
Emily Sweeney is fifth overall, despite missing the race in Oberhof.
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
| 1 | Madeleine Egle | AUT | 15 | 5.650 | 5.460 | 42.021 | 41.998 | 1:24.019 |
| 2 | Lisa Schulte | AUT | 13 | 7.691 | 7.669 | 42.115 | 42.060 | 1:24.175 |
| 3 | Julia Taubitz | GER | 14 | 7.651 | 7.693 | 42.103 | 42.091 | 1:24.194 |
| 4 | Merle Fräbel | GER | 6 | 7.686 | 7.665 | 42.257 | 42.099 | 1:24.356 |
| 5 | Ashley Farquharson | USA | 12 | 7.740 | 7.697 | 42.291 | 42.135 | 1:24.426 |
| 6 | Barbara Allmaier | AUT | 8 | 7.775 | 7.763 | 42.289 | 42.256 | 1:24.545 |
| 7 | Anna Berreiter | GER | 18 | 7.686 | 7.652 | 42.381 | 42.212 | 1:24.593 |
| 8 | Melina Fischer | GER | 5 | 7.667 | 7.627 | 42.276 | 42.374 | 1:24.650 |
| 9 | Natalie Maag | SUI | 9 | 7.689 | 7.759 | 42.384 | 42.347 | 1:24.731 |
| 10 | Verena Hofer | ITA | 4 | 7.656 | 7.626 | 42.399 | 42.336 | 1:24.735 |
| 11 | Dorothea Schwarz | AUT | 11 | 7.739 | 7.735 | 42.401 | 42.423 | 1:24.824 |
| 12 | Elina Bota | LAT | 16 | 7.626 | 7.607 | 42.521 | 42.404 | 1:24.925 |
| 13 | Kendija Aparjode | LAT | 7 | 7.713 | 7.799 | 42.532 | 42.397 | 1:24.929 |
| 14 | Summer Britcher | USA | 10 | 7.679 | 7.657 | 42.489 | 42.478 | 1:24.967 |
| 15 | Sandra Robatscher | ITA | 3 | 7.728 | 7.748 | 42.516 | 42.519 | 1:25.035 |
| 16 | Tove Kohala | SWE | 2 | 7.823 | 7.807 | 42.510 | 42.529 | 1:25.039 |
| 17 | Caitlin Nash | CAN | 19 | 7.742 | 7.699 | 42.644 | 42.520 | 1:25.164 |
| 18 | Trinity Ellis | CAN | 1 | 7.712 | 7.757 | 42.662 | 42.767 | 1:25.429 |
| 19 | Nina Zöggeler | ITA | 21 | 7.755 | 7.736 | 42.863 | 42.732 | 1:25.595 |
| 20 | Emma Erickson | USA | 26 | 7.722 | 7.768 | 42.906 | 42.881 | 1:25.787 |
| 21 | Iona-Corina Buzatoiu | ROU | 20 | 7.758 | 42.930 | |||
| 22 | Yulianna Tunytska | UKR | 22 | 7.718 | 42.021 | |||
| 23 | Klaudia Domaradzka | POL | 24 | 7.768 | 43.061 | |||
| 24 | Olena Smaha | UKR | 28 | 7.655 | 43.151 | |||
| 25 | Olena Stetskiv | UKR | 25 | 7.759 | 43.171 | |||
| 26 | Veronica Ravenna | ARG | 29 | 7.968 | 43.237 | |||
| 27 | Zane Kaluma | LAT | 23 | 7.799 | 43.369 | |||
| 28 | Huilan Hu | CHN | 30 | 7.866 | 43.484 | |||
| 29 | Carolyn Maxwell | CAN | 27 | 7.716 | 43.881 | |||
| DNF | Emily Sweeney | USA | 17 | DNS |