West finally gives America another World Cup victory

The 19-year-old student surprised the home crowd to come home first in 1:42.117 minutes, his best result since helping America win relay team gold at the Youth Olympic Games in Innsbruck in 2012.

The last American winner of a World Cup luge event was Wendel Suckow in February 1997, although West has now changed all that.

Austrian Wolfgang Kindl was second seven tenths of a second further back while third place went to Italy's Dominik Fischnaller.

Olympic champion Felix Loch of Germany, who won both of the opening races, was only seventh, but after the first three races, the three-times world champion still heads the overall World Cup rankings with 250 points, closely followed by Fischnaller with 240 points and Wolfgang Kindl, who now has 187 points.

And in the doubles event Germans Toni Eggert and Sascha Benecken continue to be unbeaten this post-Olympic winter.

After their double victory in Innsbruck-Igls the 2012 and 2013 World Championship silver medallists have won their third race of the season as they came home in 1:27.651.

Eggert and Benecken, who came eighth at Sochi 2014, were followed onto the podium by Olympic and world champions and defending World Cup titleholders Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt of Germany, while Peter Penz and Georg Fischler of Austria were third.

Eggert and Benecken continue to head the overall World Cup rankings with the highest possible score of 300, Penz and Fischler are second with 225 points and Wendl and Arlt are third with 215.

© Sportsbeat 2014