USA Luge athletes notch top ten finishes at Junior World Championships
ALTENBERG, Germany – As the luge world focuses on the Olympic Winter Games in Cortina, Italy, the focus was on the future of luge last weekend. The FIL Junior World Championships, which took place on January 31 and February 1 near Dresden, featured the top athletes from around the world under age 21.
The doubles team of Nate Bivins (Castleton, N.Y.) and Wolfgang Lux Swanton, Vt.) placed seventh after two runs, leading the U.S effort. Their teammates Gabe Desautels (Georgia, Vt.) and Gavin Davis (Berwick, Pa.) finished 13th.
The race was won by Germany’s Louis Gruenbeck and Max Kuehrt. Christian Bosman and Bruno Mick of Slovakia were second, .001seconds behind the German winners. Mick’s father is the USA Luge National Team head coach. Phillipp Bruner and Manuel Weissensteiner of Italy were third.
In men’s singles, Logan Barnes (Clarkesville, Tenn.) placed tenth, while Seth Coates (Potsdam, N.Y.) was 18th. Desautels, one of the few athletes who competes in doubles and singles, was 28th.
Ellie Kleinheinz (Santa Clara, Calif.) was the top finishing women for the United States in 13th place. Maggie Richardson (Mt. Vernon, Ohio) was 16th, while Brianna Gosnell (Evansburg, Pa.) placed 18th. Like Desautels, Gosnell also competes in doubles and singles.
Margarita Sirsnina of Latvia took gold, Anka Jaenicke of Germany took silver and Antonia Pietschmann, also of Germany, took the bronze.
The women’s doubles team of Sadie Martin (Vermontville, N.Y.) and Gosnell placed 8th in a race won by Austrians Lina Riedl and Anna Lerch. Luise Roeder and Maria Schneider of Germany were second, followed by Alexandra Oberstolz and Katharina Kofler of Italy.
In the team competition, Barnes, Kleinheinz and Bivins/Lux placed fifth. Germany won the race, with Italy and Latvia second and third, respectively.
The Junior World Cup continues with races in Norway and Latvia later this month.
