KONIGSSEE, Germany (AP) — Germany won five of the nine medals on the first day of luge’s world championships Friday, including a podium sweep in the women’s sprint.
Julia Taubitz was first, Anna Berreiter second and Dajana Eitberger third for the Germans in the sprint, which is not an Olympic discipline. The traditional singles and doubles races are Saturday and Sunday.
Two-time Olympic champion Natalie Geisenberger was fourth, giving Germany a 1-2-3-4 finish.
Summer Britcher was the top American in seventh. Full results are here.
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Two-time Olympic champions Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt of Germany won the doubles sprint, followed by Latvia’s Andris Sics and Juris Sics, with Germans Toni Eggert and Sascha Benecken taking third.
The men’s sprint went to Austria’s Nico Gleirscher, the younger brother of surprise 2018 Olympic champion David Gleirscher, who was third on Friday. Like David in PyeongChang, Nico earned his gold medal with zero prior individual World Cup victories.
In second place was Semen Pavlichenko, a Russian who competed as a neutral because Russia is banned from using its name, flag and anthem at major events like the Olympics and world championships as part of the sanctions from a doping scandal.
Tucker West was 12th for the U.S.
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