Luger Julia Taubitz narrowly missed another success at the home World Cup in Winterberg on Saturday (January 6, 2024). In contrast, local hero Cheyenne Rosenthal and Jessica Degenhardt (Altenberg) drove to their second win of the season in the double seater. Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt narrowly missed it despite a furious race to catch up.
In the women’s single-seater, everything boiled down to a battle of nations between Germany and Austria, who fought for the places in the top five. In the end, red-white-red had the slight edge.
World Cup leader Julia Taubitz, who fell at the German championships in Altenberg, once again showed a sparkling clean performance. After finishing second in the first run, she found the perfect driving position in the final and set the fastest time. So she could only be displaced by Madeleine Egle. The Austrian had enormous advantages at the start and was able to expand her lead little by little. In the meantime she was leading by two tenths of a second. But she lost time in the labyrinth and so it became tight again. With a margin of just 0.029 seconds, she secured victory at the finish.
“I would like to thank all the doctors and physios who brought me here“, said the ailing Taubitz after the race: “Now I feel comfortable on my sled again.” Third place went to Egle’s compatriot Hannah Prock, who was already three tenths of a second behind.
Berreiter just missed the podium
Anna Berreiter attacked from fourth place in the second run. After a strong start, she hit a clean line with only a few corrections. It was only in the labyrinth that she became a little messy, but was initially able to defend her lead. But since the athletes who started after her were all faster, they were no longer able to reach the podium. She finished fourth, 0.312 seconds behind the winner, missing the podium by seven thousandths of a second. That corresponds to half the blink of an eye.
Merle Fräbel missed another top ten place and had to settle for 12th position (+0.907 seconds). Melina Fischer, the fourth German driver in the field, was two places behind.
Home win for Rosenthal/Degenhardt
Doubles riders Cheyenne Rosenthal (Winterberg) and Jessica Degenhardt (Altenberg) celebrated their second win of the season. The young duo was already ahead of the Italians Andrea Voetter/Marion Oberhofer after the first run and was able to maintain their narrow lead in the final run despite a driving error with a total time of 1:27.131 minutes.
“The way it shook us up a bit, I didn’t believe in it anymore“, said Degenhardt afterwards. Close behind, just 0.024 seconds behind, Voetter and Oberhofer came second, Selina Egle and Lara Kipp from Austria completed the podium (+0.044).
Eitberger “not dissatisfied” despite fourth place
The former individual rider and Olympic silver medalist from Pyeongchang Dajana Eitberger (Ilmenau) slipped off the podium in the second run together with Saskia Schirmer (Berchtesgarden) and came fourth (+0.105). “We are not dissatisfied“, said the 32-year-old, who switched to the double seater at the start of the season: “You have to assume that the established ones are simply at the forefront.“
The third German doubles team with the young Thuringians Elisa-Marie Stoch (Suhl) and Pauline Patz (Schmalkalden) had to be content with last place and was almost three seconds behind the winners after two runs.
Degenhardt/Rosenthal break track record
On the home track of Rosenthal from Sauerland, the current double world champions laid the foundation for their success in the first round with a new track record (43.510 seconds). The duo wasn’t quite as fast in the second run, but since Voetter and Oberhofer couldn’t match their time from the first run, victory was no longer in danger.
Since last winter, women have also been racing for World Cup points in doubles. The duo Degenhardt/Rosenthal had already triumphed in Whistler, Canada before Christmas and also secured the German championship title in Altenberg. The other two World Cup races went to the Austrians Egle and Kipp.
Wendl/Arlt with a furious comeback
In the men’s doubles, three-time Olympic champions Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt narrowly missed out on their second World Cup victory of the season after a strong comeback.
The duo from Berchtesgaden and Königssee were only in seventh place after a completely messed up first run. But in the final they improved – and how: With 42.940 seconds, Wendl/Arlt not only beat their time by almost three tenths of a second, but also set a new track record. Only the Austrians Juri Gatt and Riccardo Schöpf were able to counterattack and took their second World Cup victory with a lead of 0.066 seconds. Thomas Steu and Wolfgang Kindl (Austria), who were leading after the first run, fell back to seventh place after a driving error.
Orlamünder/Gubitz in third place
The German champions Hannes Orlamünder/Paul Gubitz (Schwarza/Zella-Mehlis), who were third at half-time, were unable to top Wendl/Arlt’s fabulous run. After a mixed start, they were unable to make up for the deficit in the ice track. But since the competition also made mistakes, they still ended up on the podium behind their teammates (+0.091 seconds).
Moritz Jäger and Valentin Steudte (Zella-Mehlis/Suhl) finished the competition in ninth place (+0.555). “The results are okay so far. But there would be much, much more if we had driven cleanly“, national coach Norbert Loch drew a mixed conclusion.