03/07/26 10:19:00
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03/07 10:18 CST Loch in position to tie Zoeggeler's World Cup luge wins record.
Women's season crown still up in air
Loch in position to tie Zoeggeler's World Cup luge wins record. Women's season
crown still up in air
ALTENBERG, Germany (AP) --- Felix Loch came to Altenberg this weekend looking
to wrap up the World Cup overall men's singles seasonlong points title.
He won it before the race even started. And now, all his attention is on
chasing a record.
Loch --- now an eight-time World Cup overall champion --- is the leader midway
through the final men's singles race of the season, after turning in the
fastest time in the first run of the event on Saturday. The final run is Sunday.
Loch has 55 career World Cup singles race wins, one shy of Italian legend Armin
Zoeggeler's all-time men's mark of 56.
The only sliders with a chance to catch Loch in the overall standings entering
this week were Olympic gold medalist Max Langenhan of Germany and Olympic
silver medalist Jonas Mueller of Austria. Langenhan skipped the season-ending
race with a neck injury, and Mueller doesn't feel comfortable on the Altenberg
track.
Italy's Dominik Fischnaller, the Olympic bronze medalist, is second going into
the finale of the men's race on Sunday, with Austria's Wolfgang Kindl third.
The women's World Cup overall title is still in some doubt, with all three
remaining contenders for the crown --- Olympic gold medalist Julia Taubitz of
Germany, fellow German slider Merle Fraebel and Austria's Lisa Schulte --- in
contention going into the final heat on Sunday.
Latvia's Kendija Aparjode leads the women's singles race after Saturday's
opening run, with Fraebel second, Taubitz third and Schulte fourth.
Taubitz would win the season title with a first- or second-place finish,
regardless of what any other slider does Sunday. Fraebel would win with a race
victory Sunday and Taubitz finishing third or worse. Schulte would win the
season crown with a victory Sunday, plus Fraebel finishing outside the top
three and Taubitz finishing outside the top seven.
The only USA Luge slider competing this weekend, Summer Britcher, is ninth
midway through the final women's singles race. She's likely locked into a
fourth-place finish in the season standings, barring something unusual
happening Sunday.
The men's doubles finale was Saturday, with Olympic silver medalists Thomas
Steu and Wolfgang Kindl winning, followed by fellow Austrians Juri Gatt and
Riccardo Schoepf in second. Toni Eggert and Florian Mueller were third for
Germany.
In women's doubles, World Cup champions Selina Egle and Lara Kipp capped their
season in style with their fourth win. They finished two runs in 1:23.783.
Olympic silver medalists Dajana Eitberger and Magdalena Matschina were second,
and Latvia's Marta Robezniece and Kitija Bogdanova took third.
Up next
The final runs of men's and women's singles are Sunday, followed by the last
team relay of the season.
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AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
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