Canada's Alex Gough outdone by German sweep at luge World Cup
Geisenberger leads 1-2-3 finish, Gough 4th at season opener in Innsbruck
Natalie Geisenberger led a German sweep of the medals, while Canada's Alex Gough finished fourth at the first World Cup women's luge race of the season on Saturday in Innsbruck, Austria .
Geisenberger, the reigning Olympic champion, got her 39th career win on tour to extend her record, finishing with a combined time of one minute, 20.488 seconds over two runs. Dajana Eitberger was second at 1:20.661, followed by Tatjana Huefner at 1:20.664 to secure the 1-2-3 finish for Germany, which also swept the medals in last season's World Cup opener.
Gough finished just off the podium in fourth with a time of 1:20.705.
"We just missed the podium. Alex continues to be in the mix just like every other year so that is good. It is confirmation of her training," said Wolfgang Staudinger, head coach of the Canadian luge team.
Kimberley McRae also cracked the top-10 for Canada, placing eighth at 1:20.956
Erin Hamlin of the U.S. was second after the first run, but a disastrous, wobbling start to her second run robbed all of her speed potential and sent her freefalling to a 21st-place finish.
Germany's big day continued in the doubles race later in the day when Toni Eggert and Sascha Benecken won in 1:19.843 after posting the fastest run in both heats. Italy's Ludwig Rieder and Patrick Rastner were second in 1:20.021, and the German team of Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt was third in 1:20.258.
It was the 21st consecutive World Cup doubles victory for a German sled, a streak that started late in the 2015-16 season. It was also the 12th win in the last 15 World Cup races for Eggert and Benecken.
The Canadian duo of Justin Snith and Tristan Walker finished 22nd in the 23-sled field with a time of 1:21.868.
As was the case with Hamlin in the women's race, the top U.S. medal hope in doubles made a big mistake. Matt Mortensen and Jayson Terdiman finished last in the 23-sled field after finishing more than three seconds — an enormous margin in luge — behind the leaders in the first heat.
CBC Sports has live coverage of the event and continues with doubles luge with the second run set for 8:30 a.m. ET.
Sunday's action resumes with the men's runs at 4:15 a.m. ET and 5:50 a.m. ET, followed by the team relay event at 7:45 a.m. ET.
With files from CBC Sports