Canada's Alex Gough Slides Short of Podium at Luge World Cup in Germany
The 22-year-old Calgarian, who also finished sixth in Calgary and fourth in Austria this year, continues to fight for her first World Cup podium finish. Gough clocked a two-run time of one minute 53.749 seconds.
It was really about putting two consistent runs together and get back into the swing of things, said Gough, who finished out of the top-10 in her last two starts. Today the goal was to get down the track with the least amount of mistakes because things have changed so much here. The track was bumpy and they changed a lot of the profiles on the corners so that contributed to a few headaches for people.
Gough, who posted the best-ever Canadian performance at a Luge World Championships last season when she was fourth, enjoyed a strong week in training in Winterberg where she qualified first in the Nation's Cup for the World Cup race.
I have one more race before the Olympics and don't have many expectations for next week, said Gough, who traditionally has not placed well in Oberhof, Germany - venue for the final World Cup race. I am really going to focus on continuing to be consistent and see what happens. We'll then go home for another week of training and be ready for the Olympics.
Gough still has time to make up if she wants to join the world-leading German women on the podium. Natalie Geisenberger finished first on her home track with a time of 1:53.179. Tatjana Hüfner was second at 1:53.189, while American Erin Hamlin, who is the reigning luge World Champion, prevented the German sweep while finishing third at 1:53.329.
Two other Canadian women also hit the start house in Germany. Two-time Olympian, Regan Lauscher of Red Deer, Alta., slid to 14th spot at 1:54.731, while Regina's Meaghan Simister was 17th (1:54.808).
Following the women's race, Alex Gough joined Sam Edney, along with Chris and Mike Moffat for the team relay. The Canadians podium streak ended at three in the team competition after finishing fifth with a time of 2:27.080. The Germans won with a time of 2:25.827.
The Canadian Luge Team now heads to Oberhof, Germany for the final Luge World Cup race of the season prior to the Olympic Winter Games.
The Canadian Luge Association is the governing body for luge racing in Canada. 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 RESULTS: www.fil-luge.org
Women's Top-Five Results:
1.Natalie Geisenberger, GER, 1:53.179; 2. Tatjana Hüfner, GER, 1:53.189; 3. Erin Hamlin, USA, 1:53.329; 4. Anke Wischnewski, GER, 1:53.338; 5. Corinna Martini, GER, 1:53.580
Other Canadian Results:
14. Regan Lauscher, Red Deer, Alta., 1:1:54.731; 15. Meaghan Simister, Regina, 1:54.808
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