Canada's Albrecht and Pothier Slide Into To-10 Finish at Viessmann Luge World Cup
-Calgary's Regan Lauscher leads
Albrecht, of Red Deer, Alta., and Pothier, of Airdrie, Alta., climbed two spots from their ninth-place finish at the first World Cup race in Altenberg, Germany last week to claim another top-10 position as they flew down the track with a two-run combined time of one minute 27:882 seconds.
"We are aiming for the podium this year," said 23-year-old Albrecht, who along with partner Eric Pothier, 25, are testing a new sled in hopes of enhancing their technical performance this season. "We were pretty consistant last year receiving top-10 results, so now we're tweaking the sled and hopefully we'll continue to climb as the season continues."
The Germans captured gold in the men's doubles competition with Andre Florschütz and Torsten Wustlich continuing to exhibit Germany's dominance in the sport with a time of 1:26:539. Claiming their second silver medal performance on this year's World Cup circuit were the Italian duo of Christian Oberstolz and Patrick Gruber at 1:26:607, while Mark Grimmette and Brian Martin of the United States were third (1:26:704.)
In women's singles action, 25-year-old Regan Lauscher of Red Deer, Alta., was the fastest Canadian. She posted a two-run time of one minute 28:486 seconds, which was good enough for 12th place.
"Today, I wasn't particularly happy with my performance, but I wasn't particularly unhappy either," said Lauscher, who posted a career best on the Sigulda track on Saturday. "I encountered some bumps during my second run, but a 12-place finish isn't bad, it just isn't where I want to be."
With her eye on the podium, Lauscher had hoped for a top-10 spot. This veteran of the Canadian team, who has been sliding extremely well early in the year, posted her best-ever result Friday during the Suzuki Challenge Cup with a fourth place finish. She also posted a career-best seventh-place result on last weekend's World Cup stop.
Silke Kraushaar kept the German women on top with another gold medal performance, clocking a combined time of 1:27:248. Latvia's Anna Orlova was hot on her trail claiming the silver medal on her home ice with a time of 1:27:310, while the Ukraine's Natalia Yakushenko rounded out the top-three (1:27:472.)
Calgary's Madison Dupuis, 17, was the only other women to wear the maple leaf, and she ended the day in 23rd place (1:31:673.) Dupuis entered the second run in 13th spot after experiencing an exceptional first run, but slid into difficulty at the start of the second run, knocking her out of the top 15.
The Viessman Luge World Cup continues on Sunday with men's singles, however the Canadian sleds will be missing in action as the men failed to qualify for tomorrow's race. The Canadian Luge Team will compete in the third World Cup race of the season in Lake Placid, December 2-5.
Women's Singles Top-Five Results: (23 Sleds)
1.Silke Kraushaar, GER, 1:27:248; 2. Anna Orlova, LAT, 1:27:310; 3. Natalia Yakushenko, UKR, 1:27:472; 4. Anastasia Oberstolz-Antonova, ITA, 1:27:639; 5. Liliya Ludan, UKR, 1:27:803.
Other Canadian Women's Results:
12.Regan Lauscher, CAN, 1:28:486; 23. Madison Dupuis, CAN, 1:31:673.
Men's Doubles Top-Seven and Canadian Results: (16 Sleds)
1. Florschütz/Wustlich, GER, 1:26:539; 2. Oberstolz/Gruber, ITA, 1:26:607; 3. Grimmette/Martin, USA, 1:26:704; 4. Schiegl/Schiegl, AUT, 1:26:804; 5. Linger/Linger, AUT, 1:26:892; 6. Schmidt/Forker, GER, 1:27:558; 7. Albrecht/Pothier, CAN, 1:27:882.
The Canadian Luge Associaton is the governing body for luge racing in Canada. In partnership with CODA, the Canadian Luge Association operates the Olympic Luge Training Centre at Canada Olympic Park in Calgary, which develops our nation's high-performance luge athletes and promotes the sport across the country. For more information on the Canadian Luge Association, please visit us at www.luge.ca on the Internet.