PARK CITY — Italy's Armin Zoeggeler raced to his third straight World Cup luge victory of the season and 52nd overall win Saturday.
The 36-year-old Zoeggeler completed the two runs on the Olympic Park course in a combined 1 minute, 37.40 seconds. Germany's Andi Langenhan took second in 1:30.992, followed by Russia's Viktor Kneyb in 1:31.097.
"The first run was without any mistakes and allowed me to have some mistakes on the second run. But it was good enough for the victory," Zoeggeler said.
How many more wins does he have in him?
Zoeggeler couldn't say, but indicated he intends to race this year and next and make a decision year by year after that.
The men's race was a stark contrast to the doubles, where timing down to a thousandth of a second couldn't separate the Austrians at the top of the podium. Peter Penz and Georg Fischler raced to a rare tie for first place with Austrian teammates Andreas and Wolfgang Linger.
It was the first World Cup gold for Penz and Fischler and second gold this season for the Linger brothers — the two-time defending Olympic champions.
The two teams had two-run times of 1:27.331.
"Unbelievable," said Penz. "At first when I (looked) up at the timing, it was the first run time. Then it changed to overall time and we were first. I saw (our) teammate also in first place and yelling at us and saying, 'Perfect! Perfect!' Unbelievable. It can't be (any better)."
Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt of Germany were third in 1:27.474.
Preston Griffall and Matthew Mortensen were the top Americans, finishing fifth in 1:27.579 to qualify for the world championships.
"That's a huge relief especially now that we have a little break here for Christmas," said Griffall, who is from Salt Lake City. "We can actuallly take a little bit of time, relax, see the family then get back and get focused for the second half and specifically the world championships. It's pretty awesome."
Griffall said he has raced down the Olympic Park track thousands of times. "It's great to race here. We haven't had a World Cup here in four years and to be back is awesome," he said. "I had a lot of family and friends that came up, so it was pretty cool to get a top-five in front of my family and on my home track."
Mortensen was more amazed at the rare tie for first.
"It's pretty unbelievable after two runs and after about two miles of track that you tie down to the thousandth of a second," he said. "That's pretty incredible. It shows you how tight racing in this sport is."
Christian Niccum and Jayson Terdiman were the second-best American sled, taking sixth in 1:27.607.
The top American in the men's race was Bengt Walden, who was 19th overall.
"The time was definitely not there," a disappointed Walden said. "There were some small mistakes in there and it's tough to say where and how much it cost you. But definitely the second run the first three curves I didn't have the grip and it cost me more than I thought it would. "
Walden said he handled the difficult portion of the track extremely well.
"I thought that would make up some time, then I had some problems down low and I tensed up a little bit," he said. "I'm very disappointed on the times on a day like this. We felt we were definitely moving in training. and going in the right direction. At least we have a competition around New Year's and half a training week. I welcome that. It's important to try a lot of equipment. We have some stuff in the bag."
WOMEN'S DOWNHILL: At Val d'Isere, France, Lindsey Vonn won her first downhill race of the season Saturday to close the gap on overall World Cup leader Maria Riesch, who finished 24th.
The three-time defending World Cup and reigning Olympic downhill champion had finished second behind her German rival in both downhills at Lake Louise two weeks ago. But Vonn turned the tables at Val d'Isere, one of her favorite stops.
Despite a wobble near the top section of the 1.7-mile Oreiller-Killy course, Vonn finished in a time of 1 minute, 51.42 seconds.
"I love Val d'Isere, I've always had a good feeling here. It's great to have another victory," said Vonn, who won a downhill-Super-G world championship double and World Cup super combined race last year.
She also won World Cup downhill races here in 2005 and 2006.
MEN'S DOWNHILL: At Val Gardena, Italy, Silvan Zurbriggen of Switzerland won a World Cup downhill Saturday to take the lead in the overall standings.
Zurbriggen clocked 1 minute, 57.21 seconds, edging Austria's Romed Baumann by 0.06 seconds on a fast, bumpy track. Defending World Cup downhill champion Didier Cuche was third.
Bode Miller was the fastest American in 17th place on the Saslong course.
Zurbriggen had never finished on the podium in a World Cup downhill.
BOBSLED: At Lake Placid, N.Y., it's been a month and a day since Olympic bobsledder John Napier returned from a tour of duty in Afghanistan. Now, he can really say he's back home.
He competed in a World Cup event for the first time on his home track at Lake Placid since he won gold in a stunning triumph a year ago in the two-man race. Napier's comeback began with a solid seventh place on Saturday with brakeman Laszlo Vandracsek.
The mortar and rocket fire Napier endured in the Afghan province of Paktika was replaced by the familiar ice-chattering sounds on a sun-splashed day on Mount Van Hoevenberg.
"It feels great. I'm just glad we did well," Napier said. "I couldn't be happier with the kind of condition and shape I'm in.
"My team is doing a great job. I got sixth in Park City and seventh out here. That's all I could really ask for coming back after no training in the summer. I'm just grateful to be here."
WOMEN'S SKI JUMPING: At Notodden, Norway, Park City's Lindsey Van took fourth in the final competition of the two-day Continental Cup event on Saturday. Van, who had jumps of 88.5 and 91.0 meters, moved from ninth after the first jump to finish fourth followed by Abby Hughes, also of Park City, in sixth. Rounding out the local jumpers were Jessica Jerome (seventh), Sarah Hendrickson (20th), Alissa Johnson (21st) and Avery Ardovino (36th).
SNOWBOARDING: At Breckenridge, Colo., Olympians Louie Vito, a resident of Sandy, and Queralt Castellet won the snowboard superpipe finals Saturday in the Winter Dew Tour's Nike 6.0 Open.
Vito took the men's title with 90.25 points. Matt Ladley, from Steamboat Springs, was second at 75.00.
SNOWBOARD TEAM SBX: At Telluride, Colo., Italy's Luca Matteotti and Alberto Schiavon won the World Cup snowboard Team SBX event Saturday, beating Americans Jonathan Cheever and Alex Deibold.
In Team SBX, when the first racer crosses the finish line, a sensor triggers the start gate for the second.
Americans Nick Baumgartner and Jayson Hale finished third.
Bulgaria's Alexandra Jekova and Norway's Helene Olafsen won the women's race. Austria's Maria Ramberger and Susanne Moll were second, and Americans Lindsey Jacobellis and Callan Chythlook-Sifsof finished third.
AERIALS: At Apex, British Columbia, Allison Lee led the USA in Saturday's NorAm with second. Hans Gardner (Orchard Park, NY) was the top U.S. male in fourth. The aerials NorAm competition in Apex also acted as the first of two U.S. Selection aerials events.
Despite the added element of difficulty, Canada's Sabrina Guerin clinched the NorAm win ahead of Lee. Three other American women broke inside the top 10 with Adriana Pickering (San Diego) in fifth, Alexa Devereaux (Park City) in seventh and Madison Olsen (Park City) in eighth.