“The Ukrainian athlete was ahead of the main rivals from Slovakia and the USA”, — write: sport.ua
Mandziy showed the best entry time (53.289 seconds). He was ahead of the silver medalist Josef Ninis from Slovakia by 0.140 seconds, and the third place was taken by the representative of the USA Matthew Greiner (+0.211 seconds).
This victory was the second Cup of Nations award for the Ukrainian in the current season. In December, at the first stage of the Cup of Nations, which was also held in Winterberg, Andriy Mandziy won a bronze medal.
After the Nations Cup competitions, Ukrainian lugers will continue their performances in Winterberg on January 10-11 at the fifth stage of the World Cup. These starts will be the final ones in the Olympic qualification, based on the results of which the composition of the Ukrainian luge team for the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympic Games will be determined.
Andriy Mandziy shared his emotions after the victory: “It was a confident race, although the time turned out to be a second worse than in yesterday’s practice. Due to heavy snowfall, the track feels completely different, and it is not easy to adapt to such changes in conditions. However, I managed to do it today. I really enjoy performing at the Nations Cup. For us, every start is extremely important, so this victory means a lot to me.”
Luge Cup of Nations
Winterberg (Germany), January 9, 2025
- 1. Andriy Mandziy (Ukraine) – 53,289
- 2. Josef Ninis (Slovakia) +0.140
- 3. Matthew Greiner (USA) +0.211
