At the Luge World Championships in Oberhof, the German selection once again gave the competition no chance. As in the sprint, the singles won all the medals.
After two rounds, Anna Berreiter (RC Berchtesgaden) won her first world title in 1:23.991 minutes. Second place went to Julia Taubitz (WSC Oberwiesenthal/ 0.058 seconds). Dajana Eitberger (RC Ilmenau/ 0.116), who won the sprint on Friday, finished third.
“Oberhof suits me somehow, I can really drive at speed here. It’s a lot of fun with the crowd at the World Championships – just great to win my first title here,” said Berreiter, beaming at the finish. Her success is all the better because the first half of the season was “not easy” for her. “I was really struggling,” said the 23-year-old. There were a few conversations “because I wasn’t doing so well mentally either”.
“We’re just awesome”
The fact that her teammates scooped up the other medals and that Merle Fraebel also shone in fifth place (0.212) was due to the unity of the team, said Berreiter. “We’re just awesome, I would say,” said the new world champion, adding: “Of course we benefit from having the best drivers in our own team.”
National coach Norbert Loch was very satisfied. He had already told the team the night before that a triple success was possible – “and they implemented it”.
The doubles racers Toni Eggert (BRC Ilsenburg) and Sascha Benecken (RT Suhl) had previously started the shower of medals, who confidently won gold on their home track (1:23.517 minutes). Jessica Degenhardt (RRC Altenberg) and Cheyenne Rosenthal (BSC Winterberg) even managed to do this on the shortened route with a track record (1:17.619 minutes). The Olympic champions Tobias Wendl/Tobias Arlt (RC Berchtesgaden/WSV Königssee) completed the strong result with silver.
Lots of cheers along the way
“It’s so nice to have a World Cup at home after two winters without a spectator, to be able to celebrate with so many people,” summarized Benecken. The triumph in his own state is “the fulfillment of a childhood dream”.
Degenhardt explained her brisk ride like this: “We tried to put everything in again in the second run, there were also small things where I thought: Okay, now you have to stretch yourself again.” It paid off.
The dominance of the German team has been overwhelming so far. In the sprint races on Friday, too, the hole protégés had won all the classifications and won a total of nine out of twelve medals. Now it’s 15 out of 21.
