From Umhausen, AUT
(January 9, 2022) – Thomas Kammerlander had to come from behind, but he came out on top in the season opening men’s luge race in Umhausen.
Kammerlander trailed Italy’s Alex Gruber by .23 after one heat. On the second run Kammerlander set the quick run of the heat to move into the lead with only Gruber to go. The Italian couldn’t answer, as he slipped up early in his second run and had only the fourth quickest time of the run to fall back to second, .08 behind Kammerlander.
The gold for Kammerlander was his sixth straight dating back to the 2019/2020 season finale, also in Umhausen.
Gruber took silver, while Michael Scheikl held off Florian Clara for bronze.
Clara finished fourth, while Fabian Achenrainer finished fifth. Clara’s doubles teammate, Patrick Pigneter, rounded out the top six.
For the first time in a few years the United States sent sliders to the FIL Natural Track World Cup. Torrey Cookman led the American effort with a 21st place finish, while Zane Farnsworth finished 26th.
Flyn Cobun finished 22nd for New Zealand.
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
| 1 | Thomas Kammerlander | AUT | 34 | 11.51 | 11.53 | 73.71 | 73.70 | 2:27.41 |
| 2 | Alex Gruber | ITA | 35 | 11.55 | 11.65 | 73.48 | 74.01 | 2:27.49 |
| 3 | Michael Scheikl | AUT | 37 | 11.51 | 11.57 | 73.80 | 73.82 | 2:27.62 |
| 4 | Florian Clara | ITA | 32 | 11.74 | 11.65 | 74.09 | 73.89 | 2:27.98 |
| 5 | Fabian Achenrainer | AUT | 33 | 11.75 | 11.71 | 74.35 | 74.29 | 2:28.64 |
| 6 | Patrick Pigneter | ITA | 36 | 11.60 | 11.74 | 74.13 | 74.61 | 2:28.74 |
| 7 | Mathias Troger | ITA | 28 | 11.76 | 11.68 | 74.65 | 74.72 | 2:29.37 |
| 8 | Aleksandr Egorov | RUS | 29 | 11.72 | 11.67 | 74.93 | 75.20 | 2:30.13 |
| 9 | Florian Markt | AUT | 17 | 11.90 | 11.79 | 75.05 | 75.34 | 2:30.39 |
| 10 | Grigory Bukin | RUS | 31 | 11.61 | 11.78 | 75.07 | 75.95 | 2:31.02 |
| 11 | Stanislav Kovshik | RUS | 26 | 11.92 | 12.01 | 76.19 | 76.73 | 2:32.92 |
| 12 | Myroslav Lenko | UKR | 30 | 11.86 | 11.90 | 76.65 | 77.23 | 2:33.88 |
| 13 | Oliver Schiller | GER | 19 | 11.96 | 11.85 | 77.70 | 76.81 | 2:34.51 |
| 14 | Aleksandr Zyrianov | RUS | 14 | 12.09 | 11.86 | 77.03 | 77.75 | 2:34.78 |
| 15 | Bine Mekina | SLO | 24 | 12.35 | 12.12 | 78.27 | 77.52 | 2:35.79 |
| 16 | Vid Kralj | SLO | 15 | 12.01 | 12.24 | 77.21 | 79.12 | 2:36.33 |
| 17 | Blaz Mekina | SLO | 25 | 12.17 | 12.19 | 78.34 | 78.48 | 2:36.82 |
| 18 | Simon Dietz | GER | 20 | 11.89 | 12.10 | 79.34 | 78.15 | 2:37.49 |
| 19 | Matevz Vertelj | SLO | 22 | 12.39 | 12.25 | 79.13 | 79.62 | 2:38.75 |
| 20 | Leonardo de Oliveira Silva | BRA | 21 | 12.19 | 12.42 | 80.03 | 79.39 | 2:39.42 |
| 21 | Torrey Cookman | USA | 1 | 12.51 | 12.71 | 80.87 | 80.62 | 2:41.49 |
| 22 | Flyn Myles Coburn | NZL | 6 | 12.31 | 12.51 | 81.69 | 80.89 | 2:42.58 |
| 23 | Tomas Hasek | CZE | 16 | 12.41 | 12.27 | 80.86 | 82.17 | 2:43.03 |
| 24 | Julio Dante de Moraes | BRA | 18 | 12.80 | 12.83 | 81.87 | 81.87 | 2:43.74 |
| 25 | David Rydl | CZE | 23 | 13.15 | 12.73 | 82.06 | 81.99 | 2:44.05 |
| 26 | Zane Farnsworth | USA | 9 | 12.83 | 13.16 | 85.17 | 90.70 | 2:55.87 |