Julia Taubitz wins Overall World Cup

Yanqing (FIL/22 Feb 2025) Julia Taubitz is the winner of the Overall World Cup. With her 30th victory at the final of the EBERSPAECHER Luge World Cup in Yanqing, the 27-year-old athlete from Germany moved up from third to first place.

The World Champion confidently mastered the 1475-meters long 2022 Olympic ice track, clocking the fastest time in both runs, adding up to 1:58.926 minutes in the end. When German head coach Patric Leitner congratulated her as she crossed the finish line, Taubitz first asked: “Was it enough?” Yes, it was enough - because her fiercest rivals in the battle for the crystal globe, Madeleine Egle and Lisa Schulte (both Austria), made mistakes. Egle finished ninth, 1.271 seconds behind, Schulte was three positions better (0.898 seconds back). 

For the final results this meant: With her third win of the season, Taubitz scored 657 points and her fifth crystal globe, the fourth in a row. She began the interviews for FIL TV with the words: “I am so happy. I have so many words, but my English is not so good, so I will say everything in German.” Then she had to pause for a moment because she was overcome with emotion: “After the crash at the Olympics, this victory and winning the Overall World Cup means a lot to me.” Austria's Madeleine Egle made it to the top of the podium four times, but was less consistent. “The whole week was extremely difficult,” she said after only being able to complete two training runs due to a cold, “so I can be satisfied with second place in the Overall World Cup.” She collected 629 points in the nine races. Her team-mate Schulte scored 620 points. “It was one of my goals to establish myself in the top three,” she said, “so I'm happy with third place.”

Alongside Taubitz, Natalie Maag (Switzerland; 0.442 seconds back) finished second on the podium ahead of Merle Fräbel (0.477). The 21-year-old German touched the wall in the lower part of the track in both runs, spoiling her own chances of a better placing. A small consolation: she set a new start record of 7.005 seconds. Kendija Aparjode (Latvia/0.611) followed in second place ahead of Ashley Farquharson. The US-American was able to improve by two positions (0.734) in the second run.