Canada's Regan Lauscher Slides Back into Top-10 at Luge World Cup
-German sliders maintain stronghold on top of th
The 24-year-old Red Deer native powered her way in the top-10, while posting a personal best start time in her first run. The veteran of the Canadian women's team finished the race with a two-run combined time of 1:37:197.
"I'm happy with ninth today, and it was definitely an improvement from last weekend," said Lauscher, who rapidly climbed up the World Cup rankings after last week's race in Oberhof. "One of the biggest obstacles this week was to leave my last race behind and focus on the present."
The 2002 Olympian, who recently became the first Canadian luge athlete to win a silver medal in the history of the Luge World Cup, clocked runs of 48:607 and 48.590 respectively.
"I've been focusing for two days on getting back into the race, so I think I came out today and performed well."
The German women captured the top three spots in Wednesday's race, with Silke Kraushaar taking gold with a two run combined time of 1:35:340. Kraushaar slid to a track record in her second run at 47.610. Teammate Barbara Niedernhuber grabbed the silver medal with a time of 1:35:558, while Anke Wischnewski captured bronze (1:36:392).
Calgary's Madison Dupuis was the only other Canadian sled today's race, and finished in 14th spot with a combined time of 1:37:651.
Meanwhile in men's doubles action, Canada's Grant Albrecht and Eric Pothier finished the day's race in 14th place, posting a two-run combined time of 1:36:966. Pothier, of Airdrie, Alta., and Albrecht, of Red Deer, Alta., who had hoped to break back into the top-10 in World Cup racing, clocked runs of 48:485 and 48.481 respectively.
"We'd been having good runs all week, but unfortunately we didn't have enough speed on race day to climb further up in the standings," said Pothier. "Grant and I are looking forward to the next race in Igls, Austria because we tend to be faster on that track. Hopefully we'll see better results."
Germany narrowly missed a podium sweep, with three-time World Champions Patrick Leitner and Alexander Resch claiming the top spot with a combined time of 1:34:534. Teammate's Andre Florschütz and Torsten Wustlich captured the silver medal with a time of 1:35:230, while Austria's Linger and Linger rounder out third at 1:35:305.
Racing will continue on Thursday in Konigssee, Germany with men's single action.
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.
COMPLETE TEAM RESULTS: www.fil-luge.org
Women's Top-Five Results (20 sleds):
1. Silke Kraushaar, GER, 1:35:340; 2. Barbara Niedernhuber, GER, 1:35:558; 3. Anke Wischnewski, GER, 1:36:392; 4. Sylke Otto, GER, 1:36:395; 5. Natalia Yakushenko, UKR, 1:36:764.
Canadian Results: (20 sleds):
9. Regan Lauscher, Red Deer, Alta., CAN, 1:37:197; 14. Madison Dupuis, Calgary, CAN, 1:37.651.
Men's Doubles Top-Five Results (15 sleds):
1. Leitner/Resch, GER, 1:34:534; 2. Florschütz/Wustlich, GER, 1:35:230; 3. Linger/Linger, AUT, 1:35:305; 4. Oberstolz/Gruber, ITA, 1:35:377; 5. Schiegl/Schiegl, AUT, 1:35.488.
Canadian Results: (15 sleds)
14. Grant Albrecht, Red Deer, Alta., and Eric Pothier, Airdire, Alta., CAN, 1:36:966.