From Oberhof, GER
(December 15, 2024) – Originally, the opening relay of the 2024/2025 World Cup season was set to be in Igls, where the Austrians were very strong at home. But that race was canceled due to technical issues.
So the Austrians went to Oberhof, won three of the four two-heat races, then cruised to victory in the relay opener.
The race kicked off with Poland, whose first slider, Klaudia Domaradzka missed the paddle, which gave the nation a disqualification. From there, Romania and Ukraine came down and held their spots, with Romania eventually seventh and Ukraine sixth.
Italy was next. The nation had gone three World Cups without a slider on the podium in any of the disciplines thus far. They were quick and consistent and took the lead from the Ukrainians, then held off long-time relay rivals Latvia and the United States to move into the medals with only Austria and Germany to go.
Austria was the penultimate team off the top. Three of their four sliders were race winners, with Steu and Kindl the one sled that did not win a race, but did finish third. The Austrians slid out to the lead, well ahead of Italy, to guarantee a medal and challenge for gold.
The last team off, as has been almost tradition at this point, was Germany. Julia Taubitz was unable to match Madeleine Egle’s slide, with Orlamünder and Gubitz able to keep it close to Steu and Kindl. But Felix Loch lost a bit of time to Jonas Müller’s slide, and by the time Degenhardt and Rosenthal pulled off the top Germany was solidly in second but had little-to-no chance to take gold.
Austria won, their seventh victory in the relay. Germany took silver, with Italy winning the nation’s first luge medal of the season with a bronze.
Latvia, the United States, Ukraine and Romania rounded out the field. Poland was disqualified for missing the paddle.
Results:
| Pos | Names | Nation | Bib | Women | M-Doubles | Men | W-Doubles |
| 1 | Egle / Steu & Kindl / Müller / Egle & Kipp | AUT | 7 | 48.319 | 1:36.454 | 2:24.003 | 3:12.865 |
| 2 | Taubitz / Orlamünder & Gubitz / Loch / Degenhardt & Rosenthal | GER | 8 | 48.340 | 1:36.294 | 2:24.276 | 3:13.281 |
| 3 | Hofer / Nagler & Malleier / Fischnaller / Vötter & Oberhofer | ITA | 4 | 48.854 | 1:37.024 | 2:24.794 | 3:14.239 |
| 4 | Aparjode / Bots & Plume / Aparjods / Robezniece & Bogdanova | LAT | 5 | 49.038 | 1:37.301 | 2:24.965 | 3:14.505 |
| 5 | Farquharson / Mueller & Haugsjaa / Gustafson / Forgan & Kirkby | USA | 6 | 48.479 | 1:37.399 | 2:25.588 | 3:14.828 |
| 6 | Tunytska / Hoi & Kachmar / Mandziy / Stetskiv & Mokh | UKR | 3 | 49.361 | 1:39.154 | 2:27.507 | 3:17.643 |
| 7 | Buzatoiu / Gitlan & Serban / Cretu / Stramaturaru & Manolescu | ROU | 2 | 49.693 | 1:39.297 | 2:28.137 | 3:19.029 |
| DSQ | Domaradzka / Chmilewski & Kowalewski / Sochowicz / Domowicz &Piwkowaska | POL | 1 | DSQ |