Taubitz from 22nd to 1st
Tobogganers succeed in crazy catch-up races on “water slide”
These are World Cup victories of a special kind: Julia Taubitz does what her luge teammate Max Langenhan does and comes out on top after a poor first run. The weather has a hand in the World Cup in Altenberg.
They did dry swimming, danced the Macarena and entertained the audience: luger Julia Taubitz and her competitors in the leader box made the most of the incredible Luge World Cup in Altenberg. The race was heavily influenced by the weather, large puddles had formed on the ice rink, which at times was more reminiscent of a water slide.
And so there were crazy results with historic comebacks by the German lugers: After World Champion Max Langenhan from BRC 05 Friedrichroda raced to victory from 21st place after the first run on Saturday, World Championship runner-up Taubitz topped this result once again. The Oberwiesenthal native managed the unique feat of driving from 22nd place to the very front. She relegated Latvian Elina Ieva Vitola to second place with a lead of 0.149 seconds. Third place went to World Champion Lisa Schulte from Austria, who was 0.297 seconds behind Taubitz.
More of a water slide than an ice rink.
(Photo: dpa)
“The plan was actually to be in the front midfield after the first run, but that didn't quite work out. I made a few mistakes that came in handy in the end,” said Taubitz, who extended her lead in the overall rankings with her 24th World Cup victory. “It was a weather race. You don't get as happy about a win then as you would when the weather was perfect.” Anna Berreiter came fourth, and Melina Fischer in sixth and Merle Fraebel in seventh also managed top-ten places.
Langenhan “was just lucky”
Due to temperatures of around six degrees, the track deteriorated as the competition progressed. Those with lower starting numbers were initially at a disadvantage in the first run. Taubitz was third from last when she entered the ice chute, but was therefore early in the decisive second run because the best riders in the first run started last, as usual.
The day before, Langenhan had triumphed in a similar way to Taubitz. Neither of them had good first runs with starting number 27. “I was just lucky. Such mistakes actually deserve a defeat. That I then make such a mistake in the second run and the track then deteriorates like that is something you wouldn't wish on any other athlete. I'm also sorry about that,” said Langenhan. Three-time Olympic champion Felix Loch from RC Berchtesgaden missed out on his 51st World Cup victory by finishing fourth, after having been in a promising second place at halftime.
His colleague Loch had already achieved a similar feat to Taubitz and Langenhan: In December 2020, the Berchtesgaden native also drove to victory on the Altenberger track from 17th place. The German luge athletes will continue next weekend with the next home World Cup in Oberhof.
