Germans claim gold in doubles, women’s races at luge World Cup in Lake Placid
Taubitz finished her two runs in 1 minute, 27.484 seconds. Sweeney won the silver in 1:27.551, and Russia’s Viktoriia Demchenko was third in 1:27.706.
Summer Britcher was fourth and Ashley Farquharson was ninth for the U.S.
Calgary’s Carolyn Maxwell led all Canadians by finishing 11th in 1:28.376, while teenager Trinity Ellis (1:28.557) of Pemberton, B.C., placed 14th.
WATCH | Julia Taubtiz claims World Cup luge gold:
In doubles, Germany’s team of Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt had the fastest time in both runs Saturday on the way to winning. Wendl and Arlt finished in 1:27.317 seconds.
German teammates Toni Eggert and Sascha Benecken — who hadn’t lost a race at Lake Placid in more than six years — were second in 1:27.501, and Austria’s Thomas Steu and Lorenz Koller were third in 1:27.513.
The U.S. doubles sled of Chris Mazdzer and Jayson Terdiman was sixth after the first run, then crashed in the second trip down the track and failed to finish. That means the Americans will not have a spot in Sunday’s doubles sprint, where Mazdzer and Terdiman would have had a legitimate shot at a medal.
WATCH | Wendl, Arlt win World Cup doubles luge in Lake Placid:
It was the first win for Wendl and Arlt at Lake Placid since the 2012-13 season. Eggert and Benecken had won all seven doubles races at Mount Van Hoevenberg since, until Saturday.
Canada’s Tristan Walker and Justin Snith placed seventh with a time of 1:28.305. The Canadian pair won a silver medal in mixed team relay at the 2018 Olympics.
Return on Sunday for the men’s event (8:20 a.m. ET) and the sprint competitions.
