The thumb was pointing down, Julia Taubitz wasn’t entirely happy with third place at the Toboggan World Cup in Sigulda. With her teammate Anna Berreiter’s first win of the season, she still secured the overall World Cup victory early. “I didn’t know it at all. I never count,” said the sprint world champion: “That’s huge. I’m really happy.”
Because former world champion Anna Berreiter performed well and the Austrian Madeleine Egle, her fiercest rival to date, recorded her worst result of the season in 14th place, it was enough for Taubitz to win again in the overall ranking. The 27-year-old achieved a hat trick and has won the overall World Cup for the last three years. Before the last two women’s single-seater races of the luge season, she leads with 865 points ahead of Berreiter and Egle (672 points each).
The 24-year-old Anna Berreiter won the single-seater competition in Latvia ahead of local hero Elina Vitola and Julia Taubitz. “My body has been playing a lot of tricks on me lately. I wasn’t really fit today either, I’ve been sick over the week. I’ve gathered all my strength,” said Berreiter, who won the single-seater world title in Oberhof a year ago . Most recently, at the World Championships in Altenberg, the Bavarian remained without a medal. In the second round she caught up and moved from seventh place to the lead. “On the whole I can be satisfied,” she commented.
