From Oberhof, GER
(December 15, 2024) – In Igls everyone assumed that the Austrian men could sweep the podium. And they did, and in fact they swept the top four spots in the race.
But that was Igls, their home track. What nobody expected was another completely dominant performance by the Austrians away from Igls. They especially did not expect it in Oberhof, the home of World Cup champ Max Langenhan.
But that’s exactly what happened.
Jonas Müller led after the first heat, ahead of the previous week’s winner, Nico Gleirscher, with Wolfgang Kindl and David Gleirscher also ahead of Felix Loch, the top German after the first heat in fifth place, with pre-race favorite Max Langenhan behind him in sixth.
In the second run it was more of the same. David Gleirscher was the first at the start ofor the four Austrians. He took the lead from Felix Loch, and then held it after Wolfgang Kindl couldn’t quite match his second slide and fell .041 behind the 2018 Olympic champ.
The previous race winner, Nico Gleirscher, was next. He slid to a commanding lead ahead of his brother David, leaving only Jonas Müller between himself and back to back wins.
In Igls, Müller had pulled a start record but finished second behind Nico Gleirscher. This week in Oberhof, Müller both pulled another start record but this time cruised to a victory by .235 over Nico Gleirscher, with David Gleirscher a half of a second back in third.
The win was the sixth for Müller, and was the culmination of a great week for the winner.
“This has been a great week here,” he told FIL TV. “I like Oberhof, and I have great memories here. It seems almost easy for us Austrians right now. I don’t know what it is, but the sleds are super fast and I’m super happy with my start!”
Wolfgang Kindl finished fourth to round out the podium-plus-one sweep for the second straight week.
Loch put down a solid second run to take the lead in the second heat, but that lead only held until the Austrians took their turns down the track, and Loch finished fifth.
Latvia’s Kristers Aparjods was the top non-Austrian or German in the field in sixth, just ahead of Langenhan, who finished a disappointing (by his standards) seventh.
Jonny Gustafson was the only American slider to make the top 20 and get a second heat. He was .07 quicker in his second heat and finished 12th. Fighting injury, Tucker West finished 22nd, two spots ahead of Matthew Greiner. Aidan Mueller rounded out the American effort in 28th.
Nico Gleirscher is your point leader by four points over Jonas Müller. Wolfgang Kindl is third, with Max Langenhan, Felix Loch, David Gleirscher, and Timon Grancagnolo rounding out the top seven.
Dominik Fischnaller is the first non-Austrian or German in eighth.
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
| 1 | Jonas Müller | AUT | 15 | 7.091 | 7.080 | 42.636 | 42.685 | 1:25.321 |
| 2 | Nico Gleirscher | AUT | 12 | 7.135 | 7.151 | 42.726 | 42.830 | 1:25.556 |
| 3 | David Gleirscher | AUT | 8 | 7.142 | 7.142 | 42.951 | 42.885 | 1:25.836 |
| 4 | Wolfgang Kindl | AUT | 17 | 7.231 | 7.174 | 42.941 | 42.936 | 1:25.877 |
| 5 | Felix Loch | GER | 13 | 7.167 | 7.133 | 42.969 | 42.978 | 1:25.947 |
| 6 | Kristers Aparjods | LAT | 14 | 7.178 | 7.170 | 43.166 | 42.990 | 1:26.156 |
| 7 | Max Langenhan | GER | 6 | 7.118 | 7.123 | 43.048 | 43.131 | 1:26.179 |
| 8 | Timon Grancagnolo | GER | 7 | 7.258 | 7.225 | 43.074 | 43.114 | 1:26.188 |
| 9 | Dominik Fischnaller | ITA | 16 | 7.192 | 7.200 | 43.122 | 43.190 | 1:26.312 |
| 10 | David Nößler | ER | 4 | 7.224 | 7.202 | 43.202 | 43.199 | 1:26.401 |
| 11 | Gints Berzins | LAT | 9 | 7.177 | 7.161 | 43.303 | 43.292 | 1:26.595 |
| 12 | Jonathan Gustafson | USA | 11 | 7.196 | 7.188 | 43.335 | 43.266 | 1:26.601 |
| 13 | Svante Kohala | SWE | 5 | 7.209 | 7.231 | 43.377 | 43.306 | 1:26.683 |
| 14 | Mateusz Sochowicz | POL | 3 | 7.137 | 7.123 | 43.420 | 43.325 | 1:26.745 |
| 15 | Leon Felderer | ITA | 10 | 7.256 | 7.236 | 43.485 | 43.390 | 1:26.785 |
| 16 | Andriy Mandziy | UKR | 18 | 7.230 | 7.244 | 43.589 | 43.479 | 1:27.068 |
| 17 | Anton Dukach | UKR | 20 | 7.236 | 7.230 | 43.649 | 43.575 | 1:27.224 |
| 18 | Alex Gufler | ITA | 27 | 7.232 | 7.220 | 43.650 | 43.635 | 1:27.285 |
| 19 | Marian Skupek | SVK | 25 | 7.279 | 7.266 | 43.741 | 43.737 | 1:27.478 |
| 20 | Valentin Cretu | ROU | 21 | 7.219 | 7.207 | 43.666 | 44.344 | 1:28.210 |
| 21 | Kaspars Rinks | LAT | 2 | 7.230 | 43.816 | |||
| 22 | Tucker West | USA | 24 | 7.374 | 43.826 | |||
| 23 | Nirza Nikolajev | BIH | 29 | 7.208 | 43.859 | |||
| 24 | Matthew Greiner | USA | 26 | 7.295 | 43.923 | |||
| 25 | Seiya Kobayashi | JPN | 22 | 7.283 | 43.976 | |||
| 26 | Eduard-Mihai Craciun | ROU | 23 | 7.258 | 43.983 | |||
| 27 | Lukas Peccei | ITA | 19 | 7.267 | 44.029 | |||
| 28 | Aidan Mueller | USA | 28 | 7.308 | 44.044 | |||
| 29 | Zhenyu Bao | CHN | 30 | 7.290 | 44.477 | |||
| DSQ | Jozef Ninis | SVK | 1 | 7.245 | DSQ |