Ivanova strikes gold in Sigulda

Tatiana Ivanova successfully defended her European title in the women's luge in Sigulda, Latvia.

This weekend's World Cup event also doubled up as the European Championships and the Russian luger came out on top to win her fifth European individual title.

However, the 29-year-old had to fight back to claim her second victory of the season, when four-time Olympic champion Natalie Geisenberger led by 0.005 seconds after the first run.

But the Russian put in an excellent second run to overturn the deficit and secure the win in a time of 1:23.594 with Geisenberger 0.052 seconds behind.

Fellow Russian Viktoriia Demchenko completed the podium to clinch the bronze medal.

In the team relay, Ivanova joined forces with Semen Pavlichenko, Vsevolod Kashkin and Konstantin Korshunov to triumph.

The Russian team won in a time of 2:12.833 with Latvia claiming silver just ahead of Germany who took home bronze.