Altenberg
Toboggan World Cup: “Go straight down twice” and reduce frustration
Felix Loch is confident before the single-seater race with Max Langenhan. photo
© Jan Woitas/dpa
Once gold and once silver – Germany’s tobogganers haven’t really gotten going yet at the home World Championships in Altenberg. That should change.
Despite sprint gold for Julia Taubitz and sprint silver for Max Langenhan, the tobogganers are in after the first four of nine races at the home World Championships Altenberg wasn’t really happy. “We will put our frustration into the start, do two clean runs and let ourselves be driven by the great atmosphere here,” announced the six-time double Olympic champions Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt. The highly decorated Bavarians, runners-up in the sprint last year in Oberhof, only finished seventh in Altenberg on Friday.
In adverse weather conditions, last year’s sprint world champions Jessica Degenhardt and Cheyenne Rosenthal ended up even further back in 14th place. “It was difficult. The weather didn’t play into our hands,” said Degenhardt. The 21-year-old wants to quickly put the botched race behind her, attack again and win the double-seater title like she did in Oberhof: “It goes on.”
Last year, the German lugers won eight of nine world championship titles and another eight medals. After the start, eight out of twelve possible medals were in the balance. In the Eastern Ore Mountains there has so far been gold from Taubitz and silver from Langenhan.
Single-seater race with Langenhan and Loch
The highlight in the Altenberg ice channel today is the single-seater race with sprint runner-up Langenhan and three-time Olympic champion Felix Loch. “In terms of the sled, it’s a good fit. Tomorrow it’ll be dry again, it’ll be a different race,” said the fourth-place sprinter from Bavaria on Friday. The 34-year-old is self-confident: “If I drive straight down twice, then that’s enough.”
Maybe World Cup leader Langenhan’s wish will come true after all and he will be on the World Cup podium with Loch. “At the end it would be cool if we both had a medal hanging around our necks.”
Winning the single-seater competition is Langenhan’s favorite. “In the end, of course, it’s this title that counts, which you can also win at the Olympics. That’s simply the single-seater title. The sprint doesn’t exist at the Olympics yet.” The World Cup ends on Sunday with the women’s single-seater and the team relay.