POSTED: Saturday January 16th 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Germans unstoppable at home in Oberhof; USA with 3 in top 10 led by Grimmette/Martin

Home team takes all 6 medals in 2 races; USA places 7-8-9 on the day

AUDIO LINKS OF GRIMMETTE/MARTIN BELOW

OBERHOF, Germany - German luge racers established track records Saturday and used those advantages to run the table at a World Cup event in Oberhof, Germany when they collected all the medals in the doubles and women’s competitions.

Andre Florschutz and Torsten Wustlich set a track record in the opening run to propel themselves to a doubles victory and led a German sweep of the podium.

The women were led by World Cup leader Tatjana Huefner as Germany also finished 1-2-3. She, too, lowered the existing course record time.

As much as German athletes perform brilliantly on their four courses, they are particularly fond of the chute in Oberhof, a winter sports mecca where, in recent years, they have taken luge domination to new heights.

Teammates Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt lowered the doubles start record in the second heat as they raced into second place ahead of Patric Leitner and Alexander Resch.

Florschutz and Wustlich, the 2006 Olympic silver medalists, won for the second time this season with a two-run total time of 1:25.567. Their first run record time of 42.717 seconds was backed up by a clocking of 42.850 on the short, 945 meter, 11-turn doubles and women’s layout. The duo, headed to the upcoming Vancouver Winter Olympics, lead the overall World Cup standings with 542 points.

World Champion silver medalists in 2008, Wendl and Arlt recorded 1:25.633. They are fifth in the World Cup standings with 426 but did not qualify for Vancouver.

Leitner and Resch, 2002 Olympic gold medal winners, also going to Vancouver next month, posted 1:26.001. They are second at 500. Christian Oberstolz and Patrick Gruber of Italy are third with 462. The Italians, second at the intermission, were headed to the podium in Saturday’s event when they crashed prior to the finish line at the end of the second run and placed 19th.

GRIMMETTE/MARTIN AUDIO LINKS:

www.usaluge.org/team/MarkGrimmettePostOberhof2010.mp3

www.usaluge.org/team/BrianMartinPostOberhof2010pt1.mp3

www.usaluge.org/team/BrianMartinPostOberhof2010pt2.mp3

Mark Grimmette and Brian Martin were the top Americans, placing seventh. Grimmette, of Muskegon, Mich., and Martin, of Palo Alto, Calif., Olympic silver and bronze medalists, had a time of 1:26.518. The are 11th overall on 262.

"We felt like our runs were pretty solid, but we just made stupid mistakes," said Martin. "We felt like the sled was no issue."

Specifically, Grimmette and Martin made major errors by pulling to the sides of the track at the start of both heats.

"We had a big problem at the start of the second run," continued Martin. "I had to do a lot of driving and I could hear the time being wasted."

With these issues, Grimmette felt it was encouraging to finish as high as seventh. "We’re making progress in finding speed," he stated. "All things considered, seventh is not that bad.. I’m happy with the direction we’re headed. What’s important now is to hold on to the A seed (for the Olympics). Today helped and this week was important. I learned some things with my shoulders in trying to be smoother. We’re still going to experiment with the sled, but we’re moving in the right way."

Martin concurred. "We’re leaving here quickly tomorrow and headed to Italy right away to begin testing some different setups. It’ll be good to get to Cesana, but we’re counting more on us improving."

Christian Niccum, of Woodinville, Wash., and Dan Joye, of Carmel, N.Y., rallied from 14th place in the opening round and took ninth in 1:26.694. Niccum and Joye are ranked 10th with 261.

Both U.S. sleds have qualified for Vancouver.

Huefner won for the fifth time in seven starts this winter and leads the standings with just one event remaining. A track record opening leg of 42.920 followed by 43.016 totaled 1:25.936 for a wire-to-wire victory. Her tour-leading point total stands at 670.

Anke Wischnewski placed second in 1:26.203, with Natalie Geisenberger next in 1:26.322. The bronze medal effort was Geisenberger’s worst result of the season after a pair of wins and four silver medals. Geisenberger is second overall at 610, with Wischnewski third at 470.

Fourth place in the standings belongs to Erin Hamlin of Remsen, N.Y. at 377. Hamlin, the 2009 World Champion, finished eighth in 1:27.188. On a flat start ramp, Hamlin was well behind the leaders in the early stages of both runs but displayed her considerable driving skills in elevating herself to the top 10.

Julia Clukey, of Augusta, Maine, continued to be competitive at the start, and placed 14th in 1:27.544. She is ranked 13th at 198. Megan Sweeney of Suffield, Conn., wound up 16th in 1:27.591 and is 16th with 169.

For non-German athletes, the remainder of the luge season will thankfully occur on relatively new and more neutral courses at Cesana, Italy for the World Cup final in two weeks, followed by the Olympic races at Whistler in British Columbia, Canada.

Four of the eight World Cup meets were scheduled on German tracks.

The Oberhof events conclude Sunday with men’s singles and the team relay.

For more information on the Fastest Sport on Ice®, log on to http://www.usaluge.org

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Keywords · US Luge · World Cup · Oberhof · Germany · luge

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Name: Gordy Sheer
Organization: USA Luge
Email:
Phone: +1.518-523-2071 ext. 102
URL: http://www.usaluge.org

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