Canada’s Albrecht and Pothier Skid Through the Top-10 in Austria
-Regan Lauscher leads Canadian women with a top-1
Albrecht, of Red Deer, Alta., and Pothier, of Airdrie, Alta., posted their fifth top-10 finish of the season in a time of 1:21.563. Another Canadian doubles team, Marshall Savill and Winston Davis, both of Calgary had their best World Cup result in Europe finishing in 12th place (1:22.432).
"We had a major mistake at the start of our first run that made us skid over a section of the track and cost us a lot of time," said Pothier, who along with partner Grant Albrecht, are trying to gain momentum leading up to the World Championships. "Our second run was much better and we made our way back up the standings into the top-10 ."
Some familiar faces made it onto the podium in Igls. Germany's leading doubles team of Patric Leitner and Alexander Resch won the gold medal today in a time of 1:20.234. They were followed, only two tenths of a second back, by Austria's Markus Schiegl and Tobias Schiegl (1:20.434). The bronze medal went to another German duo, André Florschütz and Torsten Wustlich with a combined time of 1:20.594.
In the women's singles competition, 23-year-old Regan Lauscher, of Red Deer, Alta., was the fastest Canadian. She posted a two-run time of 1:21.991, good enough for 14th place. Regina's Meaghan Simister, 17, was the only other woman wearing the maple leaf, and she ended the day with a 21st-place result (1:22.771).
"I had a few small mistakes today and with a field this good, they start to add up real quick. My starts were good, and when I clean up my runs, I'll be a lot faster," said Lauscher, who posted two personal best starts on the track at Igls. "Every race ahead of me counts, and my goal is to keep improving on past results right until the end of the season."
The German women repeated their podium sweep from last week's World Cup race, at today's event in Austria. Sylke Otto led her teammates with the fastest time of the day (1:20.811) and captured the gold medal. Newcomer Tatjana Hüfner made her World Cup debut with a silver medal performance and a two-run time of 1:20.962. The bronze medal went to Silke Kraushaar in 1:21.124.
Canada's junior-aged luge athletes will now travel home to Calgary, for the Junior Luge World Championships, being held at Canada Olympic Park, January 3 - February 1, 2004. The rest of the team will head to Konigssee, Germany for the last Viessmann Luge World Cup event, January 3 - February 1, 2004.
MEN'S DOUBLES RESULTS:
| Rank | Country | Name | Time |
| 1 | Germany | Leitner/Resch | 1:20.234 |
| 2 | Austria | Schiegl/Schiegl | 1:20.434 |
| 3 | Germany | Florschütz/Wustlich | 1:20.594 |
| 4 | Italy | Oberstolz/Gruber | 1:20.672 |
| 5 | Italy | Plankensteiner/Haselrieder | 1:20.727 |
| 6 | USA | Grimmette/Martin | 1:20.826 |
| 7 | Austria | Linger/Linger | 1:21.003 |
| 8 | Germany | Skel/Wöller | 1:21.435 |
| 9 | Canada | Albrecht/Pothier | 1:21.563 |
| 10 | Russia | Kuzmitch/Veselov | 1:21.756 |
| 12 | Canada | Savill/Davis | 1:22.432 |
WOMEN'S SINGLES RESULTS:
| Rank | Country | Name | Time |
| 1 | Germany | Sylke Otto | 1:20.811 |
| 2 | Germany | Tatjana Hüfner | 1:20.962 |
| 3 | Germany | Silke Kraushaar | 1:21.124 |
| 4 | Austria | Sonja Manzenreiter | 1:21.187 |
| 5 | Germany | Barbara Niedernhuber | 1:21.295 |
| 6 | Ukraine | Natalia Yakushenko | 1:21.552 |
| 7 | Latvia | Anna Orlova | 1:21.669 |
| 8 | USA | Ashley Hayden | 1:21.711 |
| 9 | Austria | Nina Reithmeyer | 1:21.738 |
| 10 | Austria | Veronika Halder | 1:21.744 |
| 14 | Canada | Regan Lauscher | 1:21.991 |
| 21 | Canada | Meaghan Simister | 1:22.771 |
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.