Dorothea Schwarz, Jozef Ninis, Oberstolz/Kofler and Kunze/Trippner win the 5th FIL Nations Cup in Altenberg

Altenberg (FIL/10 Jan 2025) The fifth FIL Nations Cup of the 2024-25 season took place on Friday, January 10, 2025 at the SachsenEnergie-Eiskanal in Altenberg. The Nations Cup is a weekly qualifying race and the prelude to the EBERSPAECHER Luge World Cup weekend.

Dorothea Schwarz (AUT), Jozef Ninis (SVK) and the doubles Alexandra Oberstolz with Katharina Kofler (ITA) and Pascal Kunze and Max Trippner (GER) emerged as winners.

Jozef Ninis (SVK) delivered an impressive performance to win the Nations Cup in the men's event. The experienced Slovak once again proved his class with a winning time of 54.607 seconds. He showed his strength in particular in the lower sections of the track and set the fastest time of the day. “After Sigulda, I had a lot of trouble adjusting to Altenberg. I even crashed during training. But I know Altenberg very well and I love the track. We used to do a lot of sledding here. I am very happy with the victory today, but the main competition is tomorrow,” said winner Ninis.

Second place went to Ukraine's Anton Dukach, who finished just 0.088 seconds behind Ninis with a time of 54.695 seconds. Dukach was satisfied with his first Nations Cup podium of the season: “I'm happy about the first podium of the year. At the beginning of the season, I was seeded twice, which is of course very nice, but if you can make it onto the podium in the Nations Cup, it means a medal and I'm very happy about that. I'm very proud to have shown such a good run today on one of the most difficult tracks in the world.”

Alexander Ferlazzo of Australia completed the podium with a time of 54.784 seconds. Ferlazzo, who sensationally finished fifth at the World Championships in Altenberg last year, impressed particularly in the middle section of the track, but was unable to match the times of the top drivers in the finish. “To be honest, today's run just wasn't good enough for more. But I love the starting number three, which I earned with a place on the podium today, and that's a good starting position for me for tomorrow's World Cup.”

A thrilling race in the Nations Cup in women's singles ended with a victory for Dorothea Schwarz of Austria. With a time of 53.526 seconds, she narrowly beat Verena Hofer of Italy, who was only 0.002 seconds behind. Nevertheless, her 53.528 seconds underline her strength. Third place went to local hero Melina Fischer from Saxony with 53.595 seconds, just 0.069 seconds behind the winner. Fischer impressed with a fast start, but was unable to catch up significantly in the lower part of the track.

In the men's doubles competition, the German duo Pascal Kunze and Max Trippner showed a commanding run. They secured victory with a strong time of 42.602 seconds and dominated the race from start to finish. Kunze/Trippner are the fourth doubles team of the German team not qualified for the World Cup on Saturday, January 11. A maximum of three duos per nation are allowed to start in the EBERSPÄCHER World Cup.

Second place went to the Canadians Devin Wardrope and Cole Zajanski, who were only 0.035 seconds behind Kunze/Trippner with a time of 42.637 seconds. Their strong middle section brought them close to the top position, but they lacked the decisive hundredths at the finish.

The Latvian duo Eduards Sevics-Mikelsevics and Gustavs Babris completed the podium with a time of 42.735 seconds. Despite a weaker start, they fought their way forward in the lower section of the track and secured third place, 0.133 seconds behind the winners.

In the women's doubles, the winners of the 2024 Youth Winter Olympics, Alexandra Oberstolz and Katharina Kofler of Italy, came out on top. With a time of 43.298 seconds, they secured victory. Despite a somewhat slower start, the Italian duo impressed with their precise line choice and impressive speed in the lower section of the track.

Second place went to the Canadians Beattie Podulsky and Kailey Allan, who took an early lead with a strong start time of 5.953 seconds. Their finish time of 43.336 seconds put them just 0.038 seconds behind the winners. Oberstolz/Huber and Podulski/Allan will both make their debut in the EBERSPAECHER Luge World Cup in the women's doubles on Saturday, January 11.

The US-American duo Maya Chan and Sophia Gordon completed the Nations Cup podium. With 43.338 seconds, they were just 0.040 seconds behind the winners, which underlines the closeness of the field. Their strength was in the middle section of the track, where they were able to keep up with the leaders.

Detailed results and further information about the Nations Cup and the 5th EBERSPAECHER Luge World Cup 2024/2025 in Altenberg are available at the following link: https://www.fil-luge.org/en/multimedia/eberspaecher-world-cup-39