German Festival at the Sprint Final in Winterberg / 50th World Cup victory for Wendl/Arlt

Winterberg (FIL/12.02.2023) The first World Cup weekend in Winterberg came to an end with the grand final of the Sprint World Cup. It turned out to be a true German festival as Julia Taubitz, Max Langenhan and the men's doubles Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt were the fastest in the VELTINS EisArena. The victory in the women's doubles went to Latvia's Anda Upite and Sanija Ozolina. Overall winners of the FIL Sprint World Cup 2022/23 after the three sprints in Innsbruck, Park City and Winterberg were Julia Taubitz (GER), Dominik Fischnaller (ITA), Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt (GER) as well as Selina Egle and Lara Kipp (AUT) and  Andrea Vötter und Marion Oberhofer (ITA) .

In the afternoon mist of Winterberg Max Langenhan found the fastest line through the ice track. The 23-year-old from Friedrichroda won after the EBERSPÄCHER World Cup also the Sprint World Cup in 36,161 seconds. Like yesterday, World Champion Jonas Müller (AUT, +0,060 sec.) finished second and teammate Felix Loch (GER, +0,088 sec.) third. Despite his sixth place today, Dominik Fischnaller (ITA) maintained his lead in the overall Sprint World Cup and secured the small crystal globe. The 29-year-old South Tyrolean won with 220 points ahead of Austrians David Gleirscher (205 p.) and Jonas Müller (174 p.).

“I laid the foundation for winning the small crystal globe of the Sprint World Cup in Park City and Innsbruck. My race today was not so convincing. But I like the crystal globe so much that I now definitely want to get the big one for the overall victory too,” explained Dominik Fischnaller after the award ceremony. “There are only two races left. Sankt Moritz and then Winterberg again, and I already have a bit of a lead, so I hope that's enough now.”

Julia Taubitz wins sprint crystal globe for the fourth time in a row

Less than an hour after the individual race, the women's sprint race was on the agenda as well: Julia Taubitz also took the victory here and won ahead of Kendija Aparjode (LAT, +0.121 sec.) and teammate Merle Fräbel (GER, +0.122 sec.). Thus, Julia Taubitz is the only athlete who made it to the podium in all three decisions in this year's Sprint World Cup. With two victories and a third place, she secured the overall victory in the Sprint World Cup for the fourth time in a row. She leads the ranking with 270 points ahead of her teammate Dajana Eitberger (191 p.) and Emily Sweeney (USA, 160 p.). “With two victories and winning the small crystal globe in the overall Sprint World Cup, it's a perfect day for me today,” said the 26-year-old happily.

Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt with 50th World Cup win

After their victory on the previous day, Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt also raced to victory in the last Sprint World Cup of this season. With Sprint track record of 30.798 seconds they secured their 50th World Cup win with three thousandths ahead of their team mates Toni Eggert and Sascha Benecken and Juri Gatt and Riccardo Schöpf (AUT, +0.034 sec.) The young Austrian double crashed into the finish line cheering because they knew that they succeeded in a top run today. It was the 50th World Cup victory of their career for Wendl/Arlt. With their second Sprint victory this season the Bavarian double also secured the Sprint Overall World Cup with 234 points, ahead of Eggert/Benecken (225 p.) and Müller/Frauscher (AUT, 206 p.).

Shared victory in the first Sprint Overall World Cup in women's doubles

In the women's double the young Latvians Anda Upite and Sanija Ozolina won the race in 31.484 seconds, ahead of the Italian doubles Andrea Vötter and Marion Oberhofer (+0.031 sec.) and Nadia Falkensteiner and Annalena Huber (+0.078 sec.). Vötter/Oberhofer thus finished second in Sprint for the third time. The first overall Sprint World Cup in the 65-year history of the FIL was shared by Austria's Selina Egle and Lara Kipp with 255 points, tied with Andrea Vötter and Marion Oberhofer (ITA). Anda Upite and Sanija Ozolina (LAT, 170 p.) finished third. "It's amazing to be up there together with our South Tyrolean friends. We are really good friends and have had great races this winter. We have been counting all the time and we are really happy about the shared victory in the Sprint Overall World Cup", Selina Egle said happily.

The results of the 3rd Sprint World Cup of the 2022/2023 season are available at the following link: https://www.fil-luge.org/de/ergebnisse/sprint-weltcup

The overall ranking of the Sprint World Cup can be found here:  https://www.fil-luge.org/de/gesamtstaende?event_season_id=30