Julia Taubitz wins, but Emily Sweeney sets track record

Lillehammer (FIL/30 Nov 2024) Defending champion Julia Taubitz made a statement at the start of the EBERSPAECHER Luge World Cup in Lillehammer. The 28-year-old German won the women's race in a commanding fashion in 1:33.898 seconds. However, in her 28th World Cup victory, she lost the track record from the first run (46.935 seconds) to Emily Sweeney in the second run. The US luger raced through the 1165-metre-long ice track in 46.867 seconds. This allowed her to improve from fourth place to second place. She was 0.092 seconds behind Taubitz. Nevertheless, she gave her parents a big hug in the finish area, beaming with joy. ‘It's really an extraordinary day, this is the second track record for the US team today.’

After a flawless first run, Taubitz was unhappy with her performance in the second run. ‘It was a real nail-biter,’ said the overall World Cup winner of the last four winters, ‘I approached all the corners too early at the top and was afraid that I would crash in corners 14, 15 or 16. So in that sense, I'm glad it was still enough.’ She had actually set herself the goal of breaking the track record at the start. ‘Emily has done that now, and that's perfectly fine,’ said Taubitz.

After the first run, it looked like Austria would have a double podium. But both Lisa Schulte and Barbara Allmaier were overtaken by Sweeney. Allmaier, who triumphed in the Nations Cup on Friday, was still satisfied with fourth place, 0.260 seconds behind. Schulte was 0.152 seconds behind.

There was already a larger gap to fifth-placed Merle Frebel (0.408 seconds back). The German was able to improve from seventh place after the fifth-best run to fifth place. Summer Britcher (USA, 0.423) followed closely behind. Madeleine Egle made a big leap. The European champion from Austria was only tenth at the halfway point of the women's race, but with the fourth-best run she was able to improve to seventh place (0.443 seconds back).