Geisenberger crowned champion in dramatic World Cup finale

Natalie Geisenberger was crowned overall luge World Cup champion for an eighth time as Elina Ieva Vitola prevailed in the final and historic race of the season in St Moritz.

Geisenberger missed out on the podium for the first time but her dominance through the season saw her top both the singles and overall standings in the campaign's denouement.

Heavy snowfall through the formbook out of the window in Switzerland with the race far more open than expected – with the winning margin of 0.252 seconds mammoth for this track

Vitola was the beneficiary of the fluctuating conditions, with her time of 1:53.618 enough to do the job despite registering the fifth and third fastest runs of each effort for her first World Cup win.

Second place went to Julia Taubitz, who finished second in the overall standings having won five of the first seven races, including sprints, in the season.

The German recovered from ninth at the halfway stage to stop the clock in 56.384 seconds for the fastest run of the day.

Natalie Maag of Switzerland rounded off the top three, two consistent runs seeing her finish 0.279s off the pace.

Familiar faces rounded out the World Cup podium with Geisenberger and 2020 champion Taubitz finishing on 995 and 976 points respectively in the overall standings.

She won seven consecutive World Cups from 2012-13 through 2018-19, and reclaimed the Crystal Globe having missed last season for the birth of her first child.

"If someone had told me in the summer that I would win the overall World Cup as well as a silver medal at the world championships, I would have taken it immediately," Geisenberger said.

Sportsbeat 2021