ALTENBERG, Germany (AP) — Felix Loch came to Altenberg this weekend looking to wrap up the World Cup overall men’s singles seasonlong points title.
He won it before the race even started. And now, all his attention is on chasing a record.
Loch — now an eight-time World Cup overall champion — is the leader midway through the final men’s singles race of the season, after turning in the fastest time in the first run of the event on Saturday. The final run is Sunday.
Loch has 55 career World Cup singles race wins, one shy of Italian legend Armin Zoeggeler’s all-time men’s mark of 56.
The only sliders with a chance to catch Loch in the overall standings entering this week were Olympic gold medalist Max Langenhan of Germany and Olympic silver medalist Jonas Mueller of Austria. Langenhan skipped the season-ending race with a neck injury, and Mueller doesn’t feel comfortable on the Altenberg track.
Italy’s Dominik Fischnaller, the Olympic bronze medalist, is second going into the finale of the men’s race on Sunday, with Austria’s Wolfgang Kindl third.
The women’s World Cup overall title is still in some doubt, with all three remaining contenders for the crown — Olympic gold medalist Julia Taubitz of Germany, fellow German slider Merle Fraebel and Austria’s Lisa Schulte — in contention going into the final heat on Sunday.
Latvia’s Kendija Aparjode leads the women’s singles race after Saturday’s opening run, with Fraebel second, Taubitz third and Schulte fourth.
Taubitz would win the season title with a first- or second-place finish, regardless of what any other slider does Sunday. Fraebel would win with a race victory Sunday and Taubitz finishing third or worse. Schulte would win the season crown with a victory Sunday, plus Fraebel finishing outside the top three and Taubitz finishing outside the top seven.
The only USA Luge slider competing this weekend, Summer Britcher, is ninth midway through the final women’s singles race. She’s likely locked into a fourth-place finish in the season standings, barring something unusual happening Sunday.
The men’s doubles finale was Saturday, with Olympic silver medalists Thomas Steu and Wolfgang Kindl winning, followed by fellow Austrians Juri Gatt and Riccardo Schoepf in second. Toni Eggert and Florian Mueller were third for Germany.
In women’s doubles, World Cup champions Selina Egle and Lara Kipp capped their season in style with their fourth win. They finished two runs in 1:23.783. Olympic silver medalists Dajana Eitberger and Magdalena Matschina were second, and Latvia’s Marta Robezniece and Kitija Bogdanova took third.
Up next
The final runs of men’s and women’s singles are Sunday, followed by the last team relay of the season.
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AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
