Austrian lesson at the German home race

Germany's luge men also fell behind the Austrians at their home World Cup in Oberhof. One week after the failure in Innsbruck, three-time Olympic champion Felix Loch and overall World Cup winner Max Langenhan also failed to win in Thuringia.

In contrast, the Austrians, with whom Germany's luge legend Georg Hackl has been working as a coach for luge and sled technology since 2022, took first to fourth place. Loch was more than 0.6 seconds behind the victorious former World Champion Jonas Müller in fifth place.

"The Austrians are doing everything right at the moment. And we're making a few mistakes," he said. "We'll keep fighting and see which screws we need to turn. I know years like this, in the new year we'll go all out again," said the 35-year-old.

Federal coach: "Stay calm"

Langenhan finished seventh behind Latvia's Krister Aparjods, Timon Grancagnolo came eighth. David Nössler finished tenth. After three of nine races, the 25-year-old Langenhan is only fourth in the overall World Cup, 30 points behind Oberhof runner-up Nico Gleirscher, while Loch is in fifth place.

Langenhan had won the season opener in Lillehammer, while Loch made it onto the podium in third place. "It was because we didn't perform to our full potential," said the new national coach Patric Leitner about the Oberhof defeat. "Now we have to stay calm, keep working and get back on track."