After the German luge men Max Langenhan and Felix Loch, Julia Taubitz also wanted to get back on the road to success. But on her path to her heart in Altenberg, the 28-year-old had to digest the next setback.
Julia Taubitz left the track where she tobogganed through an ice track for the first time as a seven-year-old on Sunday, disappointed. The multiple world champion from WSC Erzgebirge Oberwiesenthal only ended up in tenth place at the World Cup on her home track and had to watch another Austrian celebrate.
Madeleine Egle stood at the top of the podium in Altenberg, with two Germans celebrating behind her: Anna Berreiter (RC Berchtesgaden) and Merle Fräbel (RT Suhl) secured second and third place. While Berreiter moved from third to second place in the second round, Fräbel maneuvered his way onto the podium from ninth place. The Thuringian drove the second fastest time in the second round, only Egle was even faster.
Anna Berreiter and Merle Fräbel tobogganed onto the winner’s podium.
Two rough runs from Taubitz
While Berreiter and Fräbel celebrated happily with the crowd, the sting of disappointment ran deep for Taubitz. After ninth place last weekend in Sigulda, it was the next setback. She knows what is probably the most difficult track in the world inside out. The Saxon woman has completed countless training runs in this ice channel, but on Sunday she was unable to put her experience to good use. The sled didn’t run perfectly. Taubitz was already behind in fifth place in the first round.
The hoped-for race to catch up was not successful. Although Taubitz was cheered on by hundreds of battlegoers, the attack on the winner’s podium failed. After a blatant mistake in the final part of the track, Taubitz fell far behind. In tenth place she stayed just ahead of Melina Fischer (ESV Lok Zwickau), who finished in 12th place.
Taubitz continued to lose points in the overall standings to world champion Lisa Schulte (Austria), who came fourth in the Erzgebirge and continues to wear the yellow jersey.
Team relay in second place
In the final team relay, Max Langenhan, Anna Berreiter and the doubles Tobias Wendl/Tobias Arlt and Jessica Degenhardt/Cheyenne Rosenthal narrowly missed out on victory. It was enough for second place behind the victorious Latvians. The US team set the third fastest time. Austria only came in fourth place.