Three-time Olympian Alex Ferlazzo has created history at the FIL World Championships in Altenberg, Germany, recording Australia's best Luge result with an impressive fifth place finish.

The result is a breakthrough performance, improving on his previous personal best of tenth place achieved in World Cup competition earlier this season.

In run one Ferlazzo had the seventh fastest first run in 54.338 seconds, and in the second and final run finished in 54.440 which was the sixth fastest of all sliders.

His two-run time came to 1:48.805 seconds, placing him fifth fastest of all competitors, 0.992 seconds behind event winner Max Langenhan of Germany on 1:47.813, with Austrian Nico Gleirscher of Austria in second with Felix Loch, another German in third.

A thrilled Ferlazzo reflected on his PB and historic result.

"Fifth at Worlds, my best result by far!"

"The two weeks of training leading up to the race were horrendous to say the least. I honestly believe the support from family who made the journey over is what pulled me through."

"It’s incredible to see all the hard work paying off."

The luge athletes remain in Altenberg for a World Cup event next weekend.

Australia's leading alpine snowboarder Millie Bongiorno has had a good week, with a near PB in the parallel giant slalom World Cup over the weekend in Simonhöhe, Austria, and a European Cup podium earlier in the week in Pamporovo, Bulgaria.

At the World Cup, Bongiorno finished in 25th place in the qualification round, missing out on the top-16 finals. Her final ranking of 25th is just behind her previous best personal best of 24th in the parallel giant slalom from last season.

In the men's event Harvey Edmanson was 42nd.

The pair also competed in a team event in Simonhöhe and placed 23rd.

Earlier in the week in the European Cup parallel slalom event in Pamporovo, Bongiorno had a podium performance finishing in third.

On day two in Lillehammer Bree Walker teamed up with brakewoman Kiara Reddingius in the two-woman event, with the pair finishing in fifth place, the third time they have finished in the top-5 this season.

In the first run the pair finished with the fifth fastest time in 51.99 seconds, and improved in run number two to be the fourth fastest sled down the track in 52.15.

Their two-run combined time was 1:44.14 seconds, finishing 0.52 behind event winner Kim Kalicki and Leonie Fiebig of Germany.

After four events, the Aussie pair are currently ranked fifth on the IBSF World Cup standings in the two-woman.

Next weekend features a double World Cup event in the two-woman and single event in the monobob in Sigulda, Latvia.

Bobsleigh pilot Walker has returned in style to the Olympic track in Lillehammer, Norway, with a silver medal performance in the monobob, her first competition in Lillehammer since November 2019 when she was competing on the Europe Cup circuit.

The podium finish is the fourth straight medal for the QAS bobsleigh pilot, who has finished in the top-five in every World Cup event this season.

In the first run Walker was tied with Cynthia Appiah of Canada for the second fastest time of the round in 54.41 seconds, and in the second run had the third fastest time completing the run in 54.53 seconds.

Her two-run combined time of 1:48.94 was 0.42 seconds behind event winner Kaysha Love of the USA, with 2018 Olympic gold medallist Lisa Buckwitz of Germany .01 behind Walker in third.

After five World Cup events this season, Walker is ranked equal second on the standings on 1004 points along with Love, with Buckwitz leading the pair on 1043 points.

“It's been really fun here this week, I haven't slid here since 2019, and I actually couldn't remember the track last week when we came here for training ahead of the World Cup,” said the 31-year-old Olympian from Queensland.

“My coach Pierre Lueders and I both had to relearn it together as he hasn't slid here since 1998, so it was a fast learning curve for both of us.”

Leading alpine snowboarder Millie Bongiorno has taken part in a double parallel slalom World Cup in the Bulgarian resort of Pamporovo, setting a new personal best performance.

On day one Bongiorno finished in 22nd place, and then on day two improved again to finish in 18th, improving her previous best by one place, which she achieved 12 months earlier in Bulgaria in Bankso.

Winning both events was legendary Czech Republic athlete Ester Ledecka, who has famously won two alpine snowboard Olympic gold medals, together with her stunning gold medal in the alpine skiing super-g event at Pyeongchang, which shocked the world by winning the two gold medals in separate sports at a single Olympic Games.

In the men's event Harvey Edmanson finished 44th on day one and 37th on day two.

Walker was joined by brakewoman Kiara Reddingius for the two-woman bobsleigh event at St Moritz, with the pair making it back-to-back top-five World Cup finishes.

In the first run Walker and Reddingius had the sixth fastest time in 1:09.21 seconds, and went faster in the second run with a 1:08.51 seconds which the fifth fastest of the round, giving them a combined two-run time of 2:17.72 seconds and final ranking of fifth.

Finishing 1.13 seconds ahead of Walker and Reddingius in first place was the German team of Laura Nolte and Neele Schuten, with Lisa Buckwitz and Lauryn Siebert also of Germany in second, with Melanie Hasler and Mara Morell of Switzerland in third.

After the event Walker reflected on a successful weekend in St Moritz.

“I haven’t had much two-woman experience on this track in the past, so today I really didn’t have expectations on us. Honestly, I am really happy and think we can build on this result for years to come. It’s a really solid start with a lot more in the bank.”

“In two-woman this is our best result here, in the past we were just outside of the top-ten, so to jump all of those places and finish fifth is really satisfying, and especially when I still feel I have so much more to learn in the two-woman here, you can’t ask for much better than a fifth today.”

“The St Mortiz track has been very challenging for me in the past and it needs a special way to drive. I am slowly learning and liking this track more and more, so every time I come back I am enjoying myself here and taking in the surroundings. This is where bobsleigh was born so how could you not love this place.”

After three events, Walker and Reddingius are ranked fifth in the world, which is on track to be Australia’s best ever end of season ranking in the two-woman, two-man or four-man event.

The next World Cup events will take place in Lillehammer, Norway, on January 27-28.

Queensland Academy of Sport Bobsleigh pilot Bree Walker has continued her great form into the new year, with a bronze medal at the World Cup monobob event in St Moritz, Switzerland.

The podium performance is the third straight medal for Walker and sees her move into second place on the World Cup standings after four events.

Competing on the unique hand cut and historic ice track in St Moritz, Walker made a strong start recording the second fastest time in the opening run in 1:11.79 seconds. In the second and final run, Walker improved to finish with a time of 1:11.14 seconds which was again second fastest of the second round tying with Laura Nolte of Germany.

Her two-run combined time of 2:22.93 was just 0.15 seconds behind event winner Lisa Buckwitz of Germany, and another German Laura Nolte in second, just 0.02 seconds ahead of Walker in third.

“It’s so special, I’m really happy with my runs today and even happier that it resulted in a podium,” said the 31-year-old from Cairns.

“Each time I come here I learn more and more. I had to relearn the track with my new coach last year so coming back this year I didn’t have so much to learn, so I think that made all the difference.”

Three-time Olympian Alex Ferlazzo has finished 11th at the World Cup event on the Igls track in Innsbruck, Austria.

The result sees Ferlazzo move up one place to be 11th on the World Cup standings, keeping him in the automatically qualified top-12 sliders and not needing to take part in the Nation's Cup qualifying round, which takes place at each event before the main race.

The 28-year-old finished his first run in 14th place in a time of 50.118 seconds, and in run number two improved to have the 11th fastest time in 49.993 seconds to give him a total time of 1:40.111 seconds, and a final ranking of 11th.

Taking the win 1.456 seconds faster than Ferlazzo was Austrian Jonas Mueller in a two-run time of 1:38.655 seconds.

The World Championships are up next on the calendar for the luge athletes, which will take place in Altenberg, Germany, from January 26-28.

Curling pair Tahli Gill and Dean Hewitt have started the new year in good form with a fifth-place finish at the at the Rocky Mountain Mixed Doubles Classic in Banff-Canmore, Canada.

In total 30 teams competed in the event, with five teams in six pools, with the top-two from each pool advancing to the play off bracket. The top four overall records received a bye into the quarterfinals, while the remaining eight qualifying teams playing in a sudden-death round.

Pool Matches
Vs Trembath/Grassie - Win 6-5
Vs Nedohin/Nedohin - Win 9-8
Vs Sturmay/Kleibrink - Win 6-5
Vs Sachkiw/Jacques - Loss 5-6
Vs Thiesse/Dropkin - Loss 3-9

Finals
In the first round of playoffs, Gill and Hewitt prevailed over Canadian's Homan and Tardi in a close game going the Australian's way with a score of 6-5.

Gill and Hewitt were up against Canadian's Cotter and Cotter in the quarter-final but were unable to progress further after a score of 2-7, ending their tournament in equal fifth place for the second straight event.

The final saw Thiesse and Dropkin of the USA against Papley and van Amsterdam of Canada, with the American's taking the win with a score of 6-1.

Tahli Gill commented after the event:

"We always have so much fun playing in this event, it’s in an amazing location, with fantastic teams and challenging games," said the 2022 Olympian.

"Canmore was our home away from home leading into the Olympics so we are always excited to come back. We finished in equal fifth again this weekend. It’s always nice to make the finals at a high-level event, but there is still some work to do so we are now on our way to Edmonton for a solid training block with our new Head Coach Perry Marshall.

"With a couple of events in Ontario in February we are looking forward to training hard."

Australia's leading luge slider Alex Ferlazzo has continued his strong start to the season, placing 15th in the World Cup in Winterberg, Germany.

Importantly Ferlazzo is now ranked in the top-12 in the world, meaning he is now automatically qualified for the next World Cup in Innsbruck, Austria, and does not need to take part in the Nation's Cup qualifying round which takes place at each event before the main race.

The three-time Olympian qualified for the World Cup via the Nation's Cup in sixth place.

In the World Cup, the 28-year-old finished his first run in 14th place in a time of 52.557 seconds, and run number two had the 16th fastest time in 52.346 seconds to give him a total time of 1:44.903, and a final ranking of 15th.

Taking the win 1.208 seconds faster than Ferlazzo was German Max Langenham in a two-run time of 1:43.695 seconds.

The next World Cup is on the Igls track at Innsbruck, Austria, which will take place on January 14.