Olympic luge champion Felix Loch (Berchtesgaden) stumbled on his home track five weeks before the Winter Games. The 28-year-old finished eleventh at the Königssee World Cup on Sunday after a weak second run, but lost the victory with a serious mistake.
World champion Wolfgang Kindl from Austria won in front of his compatriot Armin Frauscher. Johannes Ludwig (Oberhof) slipped to third place due to Loch’s mishap.
“I miss the words a little bit,”said Loch on ARD television,”that something like this happens to me here, then on the straight, I didn’t expect that. After an early start of the doubles Tobias Wendl/Tobias Arlt (Berchtesgaden/Königssee) Germany was disqualified and Italy won.
The German women’s and double-seaters started the Olympic year on Saturday with two triple victories. With the men, on the other hand, it became clear once again at the home track that with a view to the games in Pyeongchang (9. till 25. February) a lot will depend on Loch’s form.
Andi Langenhan (Zella-Mehlis) took fourth place. With his third top eight result, the experienced athlete broke the national Olympic norm and, together with Loch and Ludwig, should form the men’s team in South Korea. Ralf Palik (Oberwiesenthal) became 12th, Christian Paffe (Hallenberg) closed as 14th. off.
In the women’s event, Olympic champion Natalie Geisenberger (Miesbach) had won ahead of team-mates Dajana Eitberger (Ilmenau) and Jessica Tiebel (Altenberg). The performance of the third-placed junior world champion in particular caused a stir, and Tiebel made her world cup debut on Saturday. She represented World Champion Tatjana Huefner (Blankenburg), who had to cancel because of a lower leg injury. The 34-year-old, however, is due to start again next weekend in Oberhof.
The Sochi winners Wendl/Arlt celebrated their first “real” World Cup victory in the Olympic winter. The Bavarian team won ahead of Toni Eggert/Sascha Benecken (Ilsenburg/Suhl) and the third place went to Robin Geueke/David Gamm from Winterberg. Previously Wendl/Arlt had only won the sprint in Winterberg, all other victories went to the world champions Eggert/Benecken.