From Mariazell, AUT
(January 26, 2025) – It took over 17 seasons of sliding in singles luge for doubles legend Florian Clara to win his first solo World Cup race. That happened two weeks ago in Laas. It took just about two weeks for him to win his second, as the Italian took his second straight World Cup victory, this time in Mariazell.
Clara took a .26 second lead over Fabian Brunner into the second heat, with Clara’s longtime doubles teammate Patrick Pigneter in third. Back in tenth was reigning world champion Michael Scheikl, who had trouble in his first run.
Scheikl set what would be the quick run of the second heat and picked off Florian Markt, Vid Kralj, Florian Freigassner, Alex Oberhoffer, and Stefan Federer on his way to fifth place.
Sheikl’s teammate Fabian Achenrainer stopped Scheikl’s climb at fifth, but was quickly picked off by Pigneter. Brunner’s second effort was messy, and the Italian fell to third with Clara still to go.
Clara, who had won 63 gold medals as a doubles athlete alongside Pigneter, outslid everyone in the second heat save for Scheikl, and took his second gold medal by nearly a half of a second over Pigneter, with Achenrainer the top Austrian in third.
“It’s a shame I couldn’t win a medal at World Championships,” Clara told FIL media after the event. “But at least I’ve figured out how to win World Cup races!”
Brunner finished fourth, and Scheikl fifth.
USA’s Mason Palecek was 16th, up from 18th in the first heat. Thomas Matthews was 18th and Leonard Pizziola 20th to round out the American effort.
With two events to go in the 2024/2025 World Cup season, Florian Clara now holds a five point advantage over Michael Scheikl. Alex Oberhofer is third, with Fabian Brunner fourth and Fabian Achenrainer fifth.
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
| 1 | Florian Clara | ITA | 25 | 10.01 | 10.23 | 49.94 | 51.42 | 1:41.36 |
| 2 | Patrick Pigneter | ITA | 13 | 10.16 | 10.28 | 50.28 | 51.54 | 1:41.82 |
| 3 | Fabian Achenrainer | AUT | 19 | 10.16 | 10.35 | 50.37 | 51.65 | 1:42.02 |
| 4 | Fabian Brunner | ITA | 20 | 10.14 | 10.28 | 50.20 | 51.93 | 1:42.13 |
| 5 | Michael Scheikl | AUT | 26 | 10.09 | 10.11 | 51.33 | 51.17 | 1:42.50 |
| 6 | Stefan Federer | SUI | 21 | 10.15 | 10.30 | 50.79 | 51.74 | 1:42.53 |
| 7 | Alex Oberhofer | ITA | 24 | 10.09 | 10.95 | 50.79 | 52.42 | 1:43.21 |
| 8 | Florian Freigassner | AUT | 8 | 10.43 | 10.49 | 51.24 | 52.23 | 1:43.47 |
| 9 | Florian Markt | AUT | 6 | 10.72 | 10.56 | 51.26 | 52.30 | 1:43.56 |
| 10 | Vid Kralj | SLO | 17 | 10.30 | 10.47 | 51.25 | 52.80 | 1:44.05 |
| 11 | Ziga Kralj | SLO | 23 | 10.72 | 10.49 | 52.13 | 52.48 | 1:44.61 |
| 12 | Samuel Halcin | SVK | 15 | 10.81 | 10.75 | 52.95 | 54.28 | 1:47.23 |
| 13 | Jerome Almer | SUI | 14 | 10.84 | 10.88 | 53.13 | 54.43 | 1:47.56 |
| 14 | Gabriel Halcin | SVK | 11 | 11.06 | 11.06 | 53.69 | 54.23 | 1:47.92 |
| 15 | Remi d’Avau de Ternay | FRA | 2 | 11.31 | 11.15 | 54.08 | 54.25 | 1:48.33 |
| 16 | Mason Paleek | USA | 5 | 11.44 | 11.19 | 55.29 | 53.45 | 1:48.74 |
| 17 | Peter Neupauer | SVK | 16 | 11.09 | 10.89 | 54.39 | 54.45 | 1:48.84 |
| 18 | Thomas Matthews | USA | 3 | 11.04 | 11.61 | 54.50 | 54.58 | 1:49.08 |
| 19 | Coskun Ercoskun | FIN | 10 | 13.10 | 11.47 | 58.18 | 57.03 | 1:55.21 |
| 20 | Leonard Pizziola | USA | 7 | 11.53 | 11.76 | 57.78 | 58.80 | 1:56.58 |
| 21 | Shohei Tanaka | SUI | 4 | 18.11 | 12.26 | 75.41 | 60.51 | 2:15.92 |
| 22 | Daniel Gruber | ITA | 22 | 10.27 | 50.79 | |||
| 23 | Sebastian Feldhammer | AUT | 18 | 10.32 | 51.32 | |||
| 24 | Hannes Unterholzer | ITA | 1 | 10.30 | 51.33 | |||
| 25 | Leon Auer | AUT | 12 | 10.97 | 52.68 |