Geisenberger wins women's World Cup luge event

SIGULDA, Latvia (AP) - Natalie Geisenberger of Germany won a World Cup women's luge race in Latvia Sunday and closed in on overall leader Tatjana Hufner ahead of the final event of the season.

Geisenberger, who took the lead after the first run, secured the win by clocking 1 minute, 25. 884 seconds. Countrywoman Anke Wischnewski finished second, 0.143 seconds behind. Erin Hamlin of the United States was third, 0.283 seconds back.

The win narrowed the gap between Geisenberger and overall leader Hufner of Germany, who was 10th. With one event remaining in Russia, Hufner tops the standings with 676 points, while Geisenberger is second with 650 and Wischnewski is third with 535.

Later, Italy won the luge team relay in 2 minutes, 17.137 seconds, 0.346 seconds ahead of Austria. Geisenberger and the men's overall World Cup winner Felix Loch helped put Germany in third place, 0.525 seconds behind.