ROOKIE ARIANNE JONES SLIDES HER WAY TO A TOP-10 FINISH IN JUNIOR LUGE WORLD CUP SEASON OPENER
In her first race on the Junior World Cup, 16-year-old Arianne Jones was not sure what kind of results to expect. The Calgary native was pleasantly surprised when she crossed the finish line right in the mix of the world’s best junior A women.
“This was my first world cup race ever, so I was really nervous at the start,” said Jones. “I made a few mistakes in the first run but I was able to fix them in the second heat. I was really happy with my result. Sliding here is so much different then at home in Calgary. Now that I know where I can be against these girls, I hope to continue to improve on my results for the rest of the season.”
Despite a strong start in men’s doubles, Cameron Gunn and David Adair struggled on the lower half of the track and finished a disappointing 13th after the first heat. However, the Canadian duo in their third season as a doubles team put together a great second heat to improve their final standing to eighth place.
“We made a lot of errors in the first heat that left us sitting in 13th place, which is not what we were hoping for,” said Gunn. “But we fixed things up in the second heat and had a great run, top to bottom, and that showed in our time. We are really happy with the second run and we know that once we start putting together two runs like that all the time, then we are sure to hit the podium this season.”
The Germans continued their dominance of the junior women’s division, grabbing the top two spots in the standings. Madeleine Tauber was first at 1:31.525, while Steffi Sleger grabbed the silver with a time of 1:31.647 and preventing the German sweep was American Anastacia Young in third (1:31.722). Top Canadian for the day was 17-year-old Andrea Peterson, who finished in 12th place (1:33.674). Denae Delcourt, 17, had a great first run and was sitting in 12th position, ahead of her team mate Peterson, but ran into trouble in the second heat and did not finish.
There were more German flags on the podium in men’s doubles as the team of Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt won the gold medal after clocking a two-run time of 1:30.624. Their team mates Ronny Pietrasik and Christian Welse won the silver with a time of 1:30.828, while Romanian’s Cosmin Chetrolu and Ionut Taran teamed up to finish third (1:31.585).
The Junior Luge World Cup continues in Winterberg, Germany on Wednesday with the men’s singles competition.
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Complete Results: www.fil-luge.com
Women’s Top-Five Results:
1.Madeleine Tauber, GER, 1:31.525; 2. Steffi Sieger, GER, 1:31.647;
3. Anastasia Young, USA, 1:31.722; 4. Carina Schwab, GER, 1:31.895; 5. Meagan Sweeney, USA, 1:32.077.
Canadian Results:
12. Andrea Peterson, Calgary, 1:33.674
DNF. Denae Delcourt, Calgary
Women’s Youth A Top-Five Results:
1. Dajana Eltberger, GER, 1:32.936; 2. Daniela Schwab, GER, 1:33.066;
3. Tatiana Ivanova, RUS, 1:33.286; 4. Carolyn McCann, USA, 1:33.557; 5. Mona Wabnigg, AUT, 1:33.848
Canadian Results:
8. Arianne Jones, Calgary, 1:34.285
Doubles Top-Five Results:
1.Wendl/Arlt, GER, 1:30.624; 2. Pietrasik/Welse, GER, 1:30.828;
3. Chetrolu/Taran, ROM, 1:31.585; 4. Mazdzer/Terdiman, USA, 1:31.727; 5.Gudramovics/Kalnins, LAT, 1:32.583.
Canadian Doubles Results:
8. Cameron Gunn and David Adair, Calgary, 1:33.808.
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FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Chris Dornan
Media and Public Relations
Canadian Luge Association
T: 403-470-9546