Golden birthday for luge star Natalie Geisenberger

Olympic champion Natalie Geisenberger edged German compatriot Tatjana Huefner by one-thousandth of a second Sunday to win her fourth luge World Cup of the season on her birthday.

The 29-year-old Geisenberger sped down the track in a combined time of 1 minute, 22.388 seconds over two runs, beating her teammate, the eight-time world champion, by the smallest margin.

Geisenberger says, "That's the birthday bonus today. With a thousandth of a second you can't talk about ability. I simply had luck on my side today."

Russia's Tatyana Ivanova was third, ahead of another German, Dajana Eitberger, and Canada's Kimberley McRae, fourth and fifth, respectively.

Kimberley McRae rounds out top-5 in Oberhof

8 years ago

Duration 1:56

The Canadian finished fifth overall on Sunday at a women's luge event in Germany with a time of 1:22.905, +0.517 seconds back.

Geisenberger leads Huefner by 77 points in the overall standings with two events remaining.