PARAMONOVO, Russia - The 2011-12 World Cup luge season ended Sunday as a family affair when Germany’s Andi Langenhan captured his third men’s singles race of the season Sunday on the final day of the season.
Langenhan and World Cup overall champion Felix Loch shared all nine gold medals on the season. Loch, the 2010 Olympic gold medalist and four-time World Champion, took the other six races on the circuit, and secured the overall title last week in Sigulda, Latvia.
The winner turned back a resurgent 38 year old Armin Zoeggeler, of Italy, who collected his second consecutive silver medal and third on the campaign. Loch was the bronze medalist.
The only American in the race, Chris Mazdzer, of Saranac Lake, N.Y., finished 17th, and concluded his partial season ranked 24th in the World Cup. He participated in just six of the nine events.
All starts for the weekend events on the three-year old track were lowered due to safety concerns after a series of training crashes earlier in the week. The men’s field raced from the women’s start.
Langenhan had times of 45.951 and 45.925 seconds for a winning aggregate of one minute, 31.876 seconds. Zoeggeler, third at the intermission, improved to second with a clocking of 1:31.961. Loch uncharacteristically slipped off the pace after the break between heats.
Trailing Langenhan by a mere 0.005 of a second, Loch wound up third in 1:32.042.
Mazdzer, a 2010 Olympian, posted 1:33.248.
If Loch was distracted in the final leg of the race, it could be forgiven. The 6-foot-3 inch luger won the overall World Cup in a runaway He totaled 815 points to Langenhan’s 617. As it turned out, it was the runner-up who had the motivation to jump ahead of teammate David Moeller. Langenhan finished just five points in front of Moeller, who took fifth on the day.
Zoeggeler, entering the winter seeking an unprecedented 11th overall championship, settled for fourth place and now the tour wonders if he will return next season, or end a career that includes two Olympic gold medals and six world titles to go with 10 World Cup crystals.
Mazdzer’s 24th place point total was 131. Taylor Morris, of South Jordan, Utah, was 37th with 47 points; Isaac Underwood, of Skandia, Mich., was 39th with 31; National Guard athlete Joe Mortensen, of Huntington Station, N.Y., tied for 41st with 30; Trent Matheson, of Bountiful, Utah was 43rd with 23. The latter three raced in only three events. Robbie Huerbin, of Pittsburgh, Pa., tied for 49th with 12 points in just two competitions.
All races in Paramonovo doubled as the European Championships, but the team relay was only contested as a European Championship event as the World Cup ended in this discipline last weekend.
Russia ended the Paramonovo program with their second gold medal. Tatiana Ivanova, the winner of Saturday’s singles event and 2012 World Championship silver medalist, put down the fastest women’s time to start her relay team and they were never headed. Russia’s three sleds totaled 2:31.975.
Germany, which clinched the World Cup overall team relay title last month, was a distant second despite a lineup that included Tatjana Huefner, Andi Langenhan, Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt. They stopped the clock in 2:32.208.
Italy was on their heels, placing third, 0.01 behind in 2:32.218.
The U.S. got off quickly with Erin Hamlin, of Remsen, N.Y., registering the second best women’s heat of the event. Hamlin was just 0.06 behind Ivanova, and nearly 0.3 ahead of Huefner to provide an upbeat end to her international season. The Americans wound up sixth in 2:35.057.
Two major U.S. domestic events remain prior to the conclusion of the current season. The Norton Junior National Championships are set for Park City, Utah on March 2-3, followed by the Norton National Championships in Lake Placid, N.Y. March 12-13.
Both events will be presented live via the USA Luge website (www.usaluge.org) in partnership with West World Media.
Men’s singles results Team Relay results
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