CALGARY -- Germany re-established its dominance in luge at the Viessman World Cup in Calgary, while the Canadians were shut out of the medals on their home track.
The Germans won five of six races at Canada Olympic Park. Summer Britcher of the U.S. took gold in the women's sprint Saturday to prevent a sweep.
Olympic men's champion Felix Loch won both men's singles and the sprint for his first victories in four World Cup events this season.
"It's a really good feeling," Loch said after his victory. "Now I can relax a little. I know my sled is really good and in the training I was really fast."
But the U.S. continues to challenge Germany's traditional dominance to start this season. The Americans collected four medals in Calgary, including one gold.
Germans Toni Eggert and Sascha Benecken were double victors in doubles as they also won that event and the sprint.
The sprint will be a medal event for the first time at the 2016 world championship Jan. 30-31 in Koenigssee, Germany.
Visually, the sprint looks like a traditional slide down the track, but the time clock starts running lower on the track. There is only one run instead of a combined time of two.
Canada had a stellar World Cup in Calgary in 2014 with five medals, including Sam Edney's historic gold in men's singles. The 31-year-old Calgarian is taking the season off to heal accumulated injuries and study commerce.
Calgarians Mitch Malyk and John Fennell, both 20, are in their second seasons on the World Cup circuit. They finished 10th and 24th respectively Saturday.
"We have a long way to go to get them competitive," Canadian coach Wolfgang Staudinger said. "We're missing Sam Edney dearly. Having the best horse in the stable not racing is a reality check."
Alex Gough, Canada's most decorated luger with over 20 World Cup and world championship medals in her career, is not racing full time this season to pursue civil engineering. The 28-year-old Calgarian wrote university exams while preparing to race in Calgary.
Americans Erin Hamelin and Britcher are overtaking Gough as the North American threat to the German women. Gough finished sixth behind teammate Kim McRae, who was fifth in women's singles Friday.
"With Alex and Kim in the second run, it was small mistakes. That was enough to put us out of the medals," Staudinger said. "If they do clean runs, there's medal potential."
"The Americans are very strong. This is reality and we have to shape up, get better, stronger and faster on the start and get better athletically."
Gough and McRae of Victoria placed fourth and fifth respectively in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. The doubles team of Justin Snith and Tristan Walker were also fourth. Gough, Snith and Walker joined with Edney to finish one spot off the podium again in the relay.
Calgarians Snith and Walker couldn't compensate for slow start times with their driving and finished fifth in Calgary.
"There's a lot of room for better homework," Staudinger said. "We spoke about it and we are on it. I think the wake-up call was at the right time. A clear message was delivered."
The sprint puts more emphasis on driving the sled and less on a fast start. If the race gains popularity, the FIS will pitch sprint's inclusion in the Winter Olympics to the International Olympic Committee.
Malyk was fourth in the men's sprint. Gough was disqualified Saturday because her sled setup didn't pass post-race inspection, although her time wasn't fast enough for a medal.
Men's world champion Semen Pavlichenko of Russia was also disqualified from men's singles because his sled didn't conform to FIS rules.
The next luge World Cup is Jan. 9-10 in Sigulda, Latvia.
