Kristers Aparjods wins home World Cup with track record

Sigulda (FIL/08 Jan 2023) Local hero Kristers Aparjods triumphed at his home World Cup with an overall time of 1:35.228 ahead of Max Langenhan (GER, +0.253 sec.) and Olympic bronze medallist Dominik Fischnaller (ITA, +0.267 sec.). Felix Loch (GER, +0,290 sec.) dropped back from second place in the first run to fourth place. The Austrian brothers David and Nico Gleirscher confirmed their good training performances and finished fifth and sixth.

Even in the run-up to the race, everyone agreed that everything had to be right on this track in these weather and ice conditions, and that many runs were needed to grasp the technically demanding track as a whole. Last year's winner Kristers Aparjods left no doubt in both runs that the victory in front of his home crowd will only be awarded through him. Highly concentrated and self-confident, he beat the six-year-old track record by a mere two tenths to 47.615 seconds in the first run. In the second run, the 24-year-old went even further and took home the victory in a record time of 47.613 seconds. This was the third World Cup victory of his career. In the Olympic winter, he won his first two World Cup races in Sochi and Sigulda, making history as Latvia's first luger with a World Cup victory. His 20-year-old teammate Gints Berzins also finished in the top 10 today with seventh place.

Max Langenhan (GER) made the podium again today after his victory in the Nations Cup on Friday. The 23-year-old had to miss the first three World Cups due to a hand injury and only competed in his first World Cup this season here in Sigulda. Fit in time for his home World Cup in Oberhof, the Olympic sixth-placed impressively showed that he is a strong contender for the European Championships next week as well as for the World Championships.

Still in sixth place after the first run, Ukrainian Andriy Mandziy finished ninth in the end. The 34-year-old from Kremenets, like the entire Team Ukraine, skipped the overseas races and instead trained on his self-chosen home track in Sigulda. The additional training runs on the 1260m track paid off for him as well as for teammate Anton Dukach, who finished twelfth.

Quotes:

Kristers Aparjods (LAT): “I am so happy! It was really challenging because there were so many people from home here. I live 40km from here, so I was already very nervous because you just want to do your best. However, it was just my day today! It was the first time I went so fast here and it were two almost perfect runs. That makes me proud really.”

Max Langenhan (GER): “The first run was still full of mistakes, but in the second it went much better. There I hit the upper passages better. Unfortunately, I lost a lot of time at the start, those were catastrophic starts, but that will improve with more training. It was not a perfect comeback for me. My big goal was to start reasonably well. I didn't manage that and I still have to work on that until the World Championships.”

Dominik Fischnaller (ITA): “Great that it worked out with the podium again this time. I really enjoy racing here in Sigulda. The track is demanding and you have to force yourself to let it go, but that is what makes racing here so special. I am really happy that I'll be able to race again next week wearing the yellow bib of the World Cup leader. That motivates me immensely.”

The results of the 4th Men’s World Cup of the 2022/23 season are available at the following link: https://www.fil-luge.org/de/ergebnisse/eberspaecher-weltcup-22