Canada's Jeff Christie Equals Best Ever Luge World Cup Result on Home Track
-Germany's Möller defends World Cup ti
The 21-year-old Calgarian, who had the same result at last year's World Cup on his home track, managed to shake off some difficulties near the end of his first run to complete a clean final run, clocking a combined time of one minute 31.030 seconds.
"I had some trouble on my first run, but I was much more comfortable in my final run, the ice was much better and I was happy with my result," said Christie, who has been leading the Canadian men's team all season. "I think Regan's (Lauscher) result last week really proved to the team that if we put two consistent runs together Canadians can compete for the podium."
While Christie was the top Canadian, David Möller of Germany captured his second consecutive World Cup title in as many weeks. Möller, who also won on the Calgary track last year, blasted down the 14 twists and turns of the Olympic Track in the Calgary foothills, posting a two-run time of 1:30.111.
Möller narrowed out Tony Benshoof of the United States (1:30.180) for the top spot on the podium, while first-run leader, Albert Demtschenko of Russia finished third at 1:30.229.
Two other Canadian men also hit the start handles with Jeff Christie on Saturday. Jorgen Krause of Calgary, who slid his way onto the team during pre-season training this fall in Europe, finished 25th with a time of 1:31.740, while Ian Cockerline, also of Calgary, finished a disappointing 28th in the 31-sled race with a time of 1:32.082.
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.
COMPLETE TEAM RESULTS: www.fil-luge.org
Top-5 Men's Results:
1.David Möller, GER, 1:30.111; 2. Tony Benshoof, USA, 1:30.180; 3. Albert Demtschenko, RUS, 1:30.229; T4. Georg Hackl, GER, 1:30.231; T4. Markus Kleinheinz, AUT, 1:30.231.
Other Canadian Results:
12. Jeff Christie, Calgary, 1:31.030; 25. Jorgen Krause, Calgary, 1:31.740; 28. Ian Cockerline, Calgary, 1:32.082.