Alex Gough Battles into Fourth in Women’s World Cup Luge

 WINTERBERG, Ger.—Alex Gough slid just short of her second World Cup medal of the season after finishing fourth at the Luge World Cup in Winterberg, Germany on Sunday.

The 26-year-old Calgarian, who won the bronze medal at the season-opener in Norway, could not break the Germany domination and was forced into fourth with a two-run time of 1:54.382.

“We just weren’t quick enough on the start today,” said Wolfgang Staudinger, head coch, Canadian Luge Team. “To win medals it is a tough battle and you have to be on the ball every single day. Alex is in the mix and if we all do our job right I know we can do this.”

The Germans swept the women’s luge podium for the second straight week. Natalie Geisenberger finished on top with a time of 1:53.457. Tatjana Hufner was second at 1:53.897, while Anke Wischnewski grabbed the bronze at 1:54.101.

Two other Calgary-based Canadian women enjoyed their best results of the season. Kimberley McRae found her way into the top-10 for the first time this year. McRae clocked a 10th-place time of 1:54.733. Arianne Jones also had a solid outing, placing 16th at 1:55.028. Calgary’s Jordan Smith rounded out the Canadian contingent in 23rd with a time of 1:59.676.

The Canadian squad of Gough, Sam Edney and Tristan Walker and Justin Snith were leading the team relay event in the afternoon until they were disqualified after the doubles sled left the start gate too early.

The Luge World Cup now travels to Canada for a series of races at the Whistler Sliding Centre December 6-7, 2013.

The Canadian Luge Association is a not-for-profit organization responsible for governing the sport of luge across the country. With the financial backing of from the Government of Canada, Canadian Olympic Committee and Own the Podium, the Canadian Luge Association safely recruits and develops the nation’s current and future high-performance luge athletes with the goal of regularly climbing onto the international podium. 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 and Canadian Results:
1.Natalie Geisenberger, GER, 1:53.457; 2. Tatjana Hufner, GER, 1:53.897; 3. Anke Wischnewski, GER, 1:54.101; 4. Alex Gough, Calgary, CAN, 1:54.382; 5. Tatiana Ivanova, RUS, 1:54.387
Canadian Results:
10. Kimberley McRae, Calgary, 1:54.733; 16. Arianne Jones, Calgary, 1:55.028; 23. Jordan Smith, Calgary, 1:59.676