First European Championship title for Julia Taubitz with track record

Winterberg (FIL/18 Jan 2025) Winterberg offered the best conditions for the EBERSPAECHER Luge World Cup. The women took full advantage of this. A total of 25 runs were faster than the track record, which Olympic luge record holder Natalie Geisenberger (Germany) has held since November 26, 2016 with 55.323 seconds and which was first beaten by Emily Sweeney of the United States in the Nations Cup qualifying run.

Geisenberger's compatriot Julia Taubitz is now the new record holder. She set the benchmark at 54.806 seconds in the first run, and improved on this to 54.776 in the second. This of course also secured her the European title. Her first. After winning the singles World Cup title in 2021, she has now become European Champion in 1:49.582 seconds. At the award ceremony, tears of relief flowed from the 28-year-old: “We are always under a lot of pressure, we are expected to win again and again. That's why I'm very happy that I was able to throw off a lot of the pressure and win this title. This gives me a lot of momentum.” The German head coach Patric Leitner was just as happy as his star athlete: ”I am really happy for Julia, who showed two great runs.”

For a long time in the second run, it looked as if Madeleine Egle could take the title. The Austrian was super fast. But in the entrance to the final curve, she made a big mistake. This took away her momentum and she lost a lot of speed. After both runs, she was 0.198 seconds behind. “I didn't do well in training, so I'm happy with second place,” said the 26-year-old. Emily Sweeney was on the podium alongside Taubitz and Egle. "The track was completely different today than usual," said the American, who was 0.340 seconds behind. ”I hit the ideal line twice and I'm super happy with third place.”

Austrian Lisa Schulte just missed out on a place on the podium, finishing 0.353 seconds back. They were followed by the two Germans Merle Fräbel (0.540) and Anna Berreiter (0.588). Fräbel thus also won the U23 classification.

Detailed results and further information are available at the following links:

56th FIL European Championships: fil-luge.org/en/multimedia/56th-fil-european-championships
6th EBERSPÄCHER World Cup: fil-luge.org/en/multimedia/eberspaecher-world-cup-40

Additional schedule 6th EBERSPÄCHER World Cup &
56th FIL European Championships in Winterberg
Local start time (CET/MEZ)

Sunday, January 19, 2025

09:25 a.m. Men's single, 1st run
10:45 a.m. Men's single, 2nd run

12:30 p.m. Team relay

All information is subject to change!