Baltimore native Britcher wins her fourth World Cup
LILLEHAMMER, NORWAY — Baltimore native Summer Britcher claimed her fourth luge World Cup victory on Saturday, adding her name to the list of potential medal winners at the upcoming Winter Olympics. The American trailed Natalie Geisenberger after the first run but Britcher, who lives in Glenn Rock, Pa., was quickest in the second to beat the German by 0.033 seconds and win in a combined time of 1 minute, 35.266 seconds.
“I’m glad I have that experience now going forward,” said Britcher, who was slowed last year due to a shoulder injury and hadn’t won since December 2015.
Britcher said she had been helped by some training at the higher start.
“I think that really gave me some additional confidence going from the women’s start with less speed that I could be confident with really any line going down the track, and I think that gave me a bit of an advantage,” the 23-year-old said.
Germany’s Julia Taubitz was third, 0.263 behind, ahead of teammate Tatjana Huefner.
Britcher’s U.S. teammate Erin Hamlin finished 0.490 seconds off the pace in ninth place.
With three races remaining, five-time defending champion Geisenberger still leads the overall standings on 880 points, ahead of Huefner on 645.
In the doubles race, world champions Toni Eggert and Sascha Benecken of Germany were quickest in both runs to win in a combined time of 1:34.586 for their eighth win of the season.
Austria’s Peter Penz and Georg Fischler were 0.130 behind.