N/A
Germany continued their domination of the luge at the 2018 Winter Olympics Thursday as they coasted to gold in the relay event.
The team of Natalie Geisenberger, Johannes Ludwig, Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt put together a spectacular run, posting a time of two minutes, 24.124 seconds. They were 0.355 seconds clear of Canada in second spot, while Austria did enough for third.
It was heartbreak for the United States foursome, as they missed out on bronze by 0.1 seconds at the Olympic Sliding Centre.
Here are the results from the luge relay, as Germany capped off a fine competition with some more excellent sliding.
Luge Relay Result
1. Germany: 2:24.517
2. Canada: 2:24.872
3. Austria: 2:24.988
For the result in full visit the Pyeongchang website.
Germany Dominant in Luge Relay
While the luge competition started with major disappointment for Germany after Felix Loch, the big favourite in the men's event, faltered on his last run to drop out of the medals, the rest of the squad have responded well.
In Geisenberger they boasted the women's gold medalist, while the duo of Wendt and Arlt were winners in the doubles too. Naturally, they were expected to make it three golds from four events here as a result.
There was drama aplenty ahead of Germany's last run, however, as the teams in front of them continued to consistently lower the track record.
It was Italy who laid down the first real eye-raising time of 2:25.093, and they would've hoped that was enough for a medal. But the United States, including men's silver medalist Chris Mazdzer in their squad, beat them by just 0.002 seconds.
Following Team USA were three more squads, with Canada next up. And they were able to conjure something special to take the summit, leaving the United States watching on nervously. As we can see courtesy of the Pyeongchang account, they were pleased with the performance:
The run was enough to guarantee a medal for Canada, with only Austria and Germany to come. And things got even better for them when the Austrian squad were only good enough for second.
That meant Canada would at least finish in the silver-medal position, and they were delighted with that outcome, as noted by CBC Olympics:
Meanwhile, Josh Clipperton of the Canadian Press reflected on how big an achievement it was for Canada to take two medals from the luge at the Games after what happened in Sochhi:
The results were bad news for the United States, though, as barring some huge mistakes from the German team, they were destined to come up short in their medal pursuit.
Any hopes of some uncharacteristic mistakes from Germany were dashed quickly, as Geisenberger stormed off the start and set her team up for what was eventually a comfortable win.
German duo Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt produced a near-faultless performance to successfully defend their Olympic luge doubles title at Pyeongchang 2018 on Wednesday.
They put together two brilliant runs for a cumulative time of 1 minute, 31.697 seconds to beat the runners-up, Peter Penz and Georg Fischler of Austria, by 0.088 seconds.
They also topped the other German team of Toni Eggert and Sascha Benecken, the world's leading pair who entered the competition as favourites but had to settle for the bronze medal.
Here is the updated medal table following the action at the Olympic Sliding Centre:
Latvian brothers Andris and Juris Sics, bronze medallists from Sochi 2014, set the early benchmark on the second run on Wednesday as they went into the lead from ninth with a cumulative time of 1:32.442.
Their disappointing opening run of 46.336 meant it was never likely they would be able to hold on to the lead and they were eventually edged out by Austrian duo Thomas Steu and Lorenz Koller.
Eggert and Benecken took the lead to guarantee a bronze medal, having gone third-fastest in the opening run, but it did not look to be enough for gold.
And so it proved as Penz and Fischler claimed silver to wild celebrations at the finish line.
Wendl and Arlt were under huge pressure to produce a gold-medal run, but they were equal to the challenge to successfully defend their title.
They produced a run of 45.877 to add to their opening 45.820 and claim a second successive gold medal.
Hosts South Korea managed an excellent result as Park Jinyong and Cho Jung-myung put together two fine runs of 46.396 and 46.276 for ninth place.
Natalie Geisenberger of Germany won gold in the women's luge singles at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, on Tuesday.
Geisenberger led the event from her first run to the last, and her victory ensured the women's luge singles gold has now remained in German hands for 20 years.
Dajana Eitberger and Alex Gough collected silver and bronze on behalf of Germany and Canada, respectively, after Tatjana Huefner surprisingly failed to round out a German one-two-three on the podium.
Here's a look at the updated medal standings after Tuesday's women's luge final:
Geisenberger has been an imperious presence in the women's luge in recent years and came into these Olympics having won all six World Cups on offer since she clinched her first in the 2012-13 season.
The 30-year-old took gold at the Sochi Winter Olympics four years ago after finishing third in Vancouver in 2010, following compatriots Huefner, Sylke Otto and Silke Kraushaar as Germans who have won the gold since 1998.
After countrywoman Eitberger took the fastest time in Run 2, Geisenberger recorded her slowest time in the third with a mark of 46.280 seconds, albeit still the fastest in the field to keep her place ahead of the pack.
An error-free fourth run was all that was needed to tie up her second successive gold, and Geisenberger delivered with a final attempt of 46.498 seconds to wrap up first place:
Eitberger kept up a three-pronged assault from the Germans and temporarily held the lead after her fourth run of 46.448 seconds wrestled the top spot from Canada's Kimberley McRae heading into the embers of the final.
Another Canadian had her shot at the podium after McRae, and Alex Gough just about clinched her place in the top three after Huefner failed to run as fast as expected.
Sportsnet presenter Faizal Khamisa commemorated a Canadian first:
American Emily Sweeney was the only participant not to complete her fourth run after crashing in her final attempt. USA Luge provided details on Sweeney's condition:
"Emily was picked up and brought to the finish building where an initial examination was given by the medical staff. It was determined that, while feeling bruised and sore, she was OK."
Sweeney came off her sled and was tended to by medical personnel after sliding down the ice track but later said "I'm fine" while getting into an ambulance for further evaluation, per Paul Myerberg of USA Today.
Summer Britcher of the United States broke the track record in Monday's opening runs, but all that promise went out the window when she ricocheted to a miserable fourth-run time of 48.770 seconds, the slowest of any participant.
Austrian Madeleine Egle won't have had any major expectations coming to Pyeongchang but cemented a top-10 finish with a fourth run of 46.696 seconds, a remarkable achievement at only 19 years of age.
Through the first two runs, it appears there will be a German reign of dominance in women's luge at the 2018 Winter Olympics.
Natalie Geisenberger leads the pack of medal hopefuls halfway through the event, with compatriot Dajana Eitberger sitting in second place. Third-place Canadian Alex Gough is the only thing keeping Germany from sweeping the podium at the moment, with Tatjana Huefner in fourth place.
Here is a look at how things stack up heading into the final two runs, scheduled for Tuesday:
1. Natalie Geisenberger (GER): 1:32.454
2. Dajana Eitberger (GER): 1:32.574 (+0.120)
3. Alex Gough (CAN): 1:32.645 (+0.191)
4. Tatjana Huefner (GER): 1:32.661 (+0.207)
5. Erin Hamlin (USA): 1:32.690 (+0.236)
6. Kimberley McRae (CAN): 1:32.788 (+0.334)
7. Aileen Christina Frisch (KOR): 1:32.806 (+0.352)
8. Ulla Zirne (LAT): 1:32.880 (+0.426)
9. Summer Britcher (USA): 1:32.961 (+0.507)
10. Raluca Stramaturaru (ROU): 1:33.001 (+0.547)
Geisenberger was the only competitor to finish in the top three in both of the first two runs. Her 46.245 seconds in the first run gave her a strong 0.072-second lead over Gough, who finished fourth in the second run but well off Geisenberger's pace.
American Summer Britcher won the second run with a time of 46.132, the best overall mark of the day. However, Britcher is in ninth place overall after a disappointing first run that put her all the way back in 15th initially.
Germans have typically dominated the women's luge event at the Winter Olympics, with Geisenberger and Huefner sitting perched atop the sport in recent years. Geisenberger is the defending gold medalist from the 2014 Winter Games, where she defeated silver medalist Huefner, herself the 2010 gold medalist.
A German has won the women's luge each of the last five Olympics. Italian Gerda Weissensteiner was the last non-German to win at the 1994 Games in Lillehammer, Norway.
Erin Hamlin, who won the bronze in 2014, is in fifth place and is the top-ranking American.
Felix Loch's reign as king of the men's luge singles ended on Sunday as Austria's David Gleirscher capitalised on the German veteran's late stumble to win the top prize under shock circumstances.
Loch led heading into the fourth and final run of the men's luge singles, but a big error in his last attempt allowed Gleirscher to remain top of the pile and bring the title back to Austria after a long wait, per Gracenote Sports:
Chris Mazdzer of the United States clinched the silver medal after finishing 0.026 seconds slower than Gleirscher overall, while German Johannes Ludwig took the bronze.
Here's an updated look at the 2018 Winter Olympics medal table following Sunday's men's luge singles final:
Loch picked back up where he left off on Saturday and recorded an impressive third-run lap of 47.560 seconds, but Mazdzer emerged with the fastest time of any Run 3 to storm into second.
The United States representative still needed to bank on a slip from Loch to have any hope of tasting gold, but sports website The Field confirmed he at least achieved an individual feat with that sterling third attempt:
It all fell apart at the last run, and Gleirscher, who had been one of the sliders closely tracking the favourite, ended Loch's run of back-to-back gold medals in this event following a fast fourth run of 47.631 seconds.
Even that wasn't as quick as his third outing, but it was enough to see him edge Mazdzer and snatch the gold. Loch was left looking inconsolable on the track after his slip, per Firstpostsports:
Germany did at least have a representative on the podium thanks to Ludwig, who saved his best for last with a fourth run of 47.603 seconds, while his compatriot had to settle for fifth overall.
Canadian Reid Watts was by some distance the youngest competitor in the luge's fourth run at 19, and his last outing was enough to at least temporarily put him in the lead before the rest of the field came through.
There was major disappointment for world champion Wolfgang Kindl, with the Austrian expected to challenge Loch for the highest prize coming to Pyeongchang but failing to make the necessary impact in Sunday's final runs.
His third run was superior to either of the times he managed in Saturday's opening session, while American Tucker West looked out of sorts in a disappointing third run that dumped him out of the competition:
Only the top 20 fastest times advanced from the competition's third run into the decisive fourth.
India's Shiva Keshavan also missed out on a place in the qualifying order in his sixth appearance at the Winter Olympics, bowing out after a third-run time of 48.9 seconds, 20 years after his debut in Nagano.
Germany's Felix Loch is on track for a third Winter Olympics gold medal, as he leads the luge at the halfway point in Pyeongchang.
After the opening heat, Austria's David Gleirscher took a surprise lead. However, in the second set of runs, Loch showcased superior consistency. He leads Gleirscher and Russian slider Roman Repilov at the halfway stage.
Read on for results after the first two heats of the luge and a look back at what was a fascinating first day in the competition at the Olympic Sliding Centre.
1. Felix Loch (GER) - 1:35.299
2. David Gleirscher (AUT) - 1:35.487
3. Roman Repilov (OAR) - 1:35.531
For the luge standings in full, visit the Pyeongchang website.
Saturday Recap
Unsurprisingly, Loch got off to an impressive start and took an early lead with the fifth run of the day, notching a time of 47.674.
As luge blogger Ken Childs noted, the German had already obliterated the track record. He also edged ahead of compatriot Johannes Ludwig:
The mark Loch set looked like it was going to be difficult to beat, although there weren't many anticipating such a blistering run from Gleirscher.
The Austrian wasn't expected to be in contention at the top of the standings, and after a pedestrian start, he didn't look likely to trouble Loch's benchmark. But a scintillating second half of his run saw Gleirscher surge into a surprise lead.
Meanwhile, the United States' Chris Mazdzer put together an excellent slide and ended up in fifth at the halfway point. As the Associated Press' Tim Reynolds noted, he was receiving some fanatical backing:
Another standout run came from Reid Watts. The 19-year-old Canadian was making his Olympic debut on Saturday and was a respectable 12th at the end of the first heat.
The challenge for Gleirscher in the second heat was going to be repeating the time he posted earlier in the day. As the second man off in Heat 2, the pressure was on him straight away.
This time he wasn't quite as quick, with a time of 47.835. Nevertheless, it was a slide that would've put the Austrian in the top 10 in the morning runs. As such, he remained in serious medal contention.
The mark was now there for the rest of the field to respond, and Loch was off eighth in the afternoon. He seized on the opportunity, putting in an almost identical time to his Heat 1 run, 47.675, and pushing ahead of Gleirscher.
While the Austrian would've been disappointed to let his lead slip, NBC Sports' Nick Zaccardi put his position into context given his pre-Olympics form:
In the afternoon, an excellent run from Repilov put him into the provisional bronze-medal spot. Mazdzer is also in the hunt, as only Loch bettered his time of 47.717 in Heat 2. The man from the United States is 0.001 seconds behind third.
Watts, meanwhile, won't have completely given up hope, either. He finished the day in an impressive 10th position overall.
After a year off to accommodate the 2014 Winter Olympics, the FIL World Luge Championships return from Sigulda, Latvia this weekend. It's a chance for the top athletes to start making their mark as the focus gradually shifts toward the 2018 Games.
The World Championships consist of four segments. On Saturday, the doubles competition will kick things off followed by the women's event. Then on Sunday it's the men who will start the action before the showcase ends with the team relay.
Let's check out all of the key details for this year's championships, followed by the schedule and a preview of the action from Latvia.
Key Information
Where: Sigulda, Latvia
When: Saturday, Feb. 14 – Sunday, Feb. 15
Course: Artificial Track
2015 Schedule
| Date | Event | Start Time (ET) |
|---|---|---|
| Feb. 14 | Doubles (1st Run) | 3:10 a.m. |
| Feb. 14 | Doubles (2nd Run) | 4:30 a.m. |
| Feb. 14 | Women (1st Run) | 5:30 a.m. |
| Feb. 14 | Women (2nd Run) | 7:15 a.m. |
| Feb. 15 | Men (1st Run) | 3:10 a.m. |
| Feb. 15 | Men (2nd Run) | 5:10 a.m. |
| Feb. 15 | Team Relay | 7 a.m. |
Event Preview
Anything less than more German dominance would be a surprise. Germany leads all countries with 109 total medals in the Luge World Championships. Second place? East Germany with 86 despite not having competed since 1990.
Austria is the next active country at 79. For comparison's sake, the United States barely cracked the top 10 overall with 13 total medals.
Felix Loch leads Germany's contingent in the men's competition. He's been nothing short of outstanding in recent years regardless of the stage. His resume shows two Olympic gold medals, four World Championship titles in the past five years and three straight World Cup crowns.
He's on pace for another World Cup triumph with four wins in seven races. No other competitor has more than one during the 2014-15 season.
In terms of American hopes, Chris Mazdzer has a chance to push Loch and potentially reach the podium. Brian Mann of North Country Public Radio notes the New York resident has been trending in the right direction recently:
Chris Mazdzer, from Saranac Lake, has competed well in recent weeks and captured a pair of bronze medals in World Cup races in Germany. He said the long training week that built up to tomorrow’s starts was great, but Mazdzer said the prep time has almost been too much.
As good as Loch has been, his countrywoman Natalie Geisenberger has been even better during the World Cup season. She's finished atop the podium in six of the seven stops on the circuit. She also won singles gold at the 2014 Sochi Games.
Julia Clukey from Maine is one of the lugers representing the United States. Ernie Clark of the Bangor Daily News passed along her update on the conditions the athletes have been facing:
The track's in really great shape, probably the best it's ever been here in Sigulda. It's a difficult track and oftentimes we see bumpier conditions than we're seeing this week so that's been nice.
It hasn't been super cold but they've done a good job of maintaining the ice and making sure that it's fast for every training session so it's been pretty consistent training and should leave us well prepared for the weekend.
The outlook is more of the same in the doubles and team relay competitions.
After a brief lull with no gold medals in doubles for three straight World Championships, Germany returned to the top of the podium with Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt in 2013. It also had the second-place finishers in Toni Eggert and Sascha Benecken.
Those two teams have won all seven World Cup golds this season. The latter tandem has a slight 4-3 edge over their countrymen.
The last time Germany didn't win the team relay was 1999. That's 10 consecutive victories in the event for the country. The only reprieve its opponents have received came in 2011 when the team relay was canceled.
All told, expect to see a lot more black, red and gold flags rising above the podium in Latvia this weekend.
What good is an Olympic medal if it hasn’t been christened with booty-shaking?
This was the logic behind Erin Hamlin’s decision to hand her bronze medal over to teammate Kate Hansen on Wednesday. Hamlin won the United States' first individual luge medal in Winter Olympic history on Tuesday and, shortly thereafter, presented the medal to Hansen for a ritualistic "dance-blessing."
Hamlin recorded Hansen’s ceremony and uploaded it to Instagram, where Mike Foss of For The Win spotted it.
It included dipping, shimmying and a dash of twerking—just for good measure.
Hamlin captioned the video, “Had to get my medal ‘dance-blessed’ by the one and only @k8ertotz #bustaBRONZEmove #Sochi2014.”
Those who have been following the Sochi Games likely saw Hansen breaking out her moves earlier this week. Prior to competition,the 21-year-old Californian popped, locked and grooved to the tunes pumping in her headphones.
Some experts weren’t pleased with Hansen’s dance moves/warm-up routine. According to Timothy Burke of Deadspin, NBC commentator Duncan Kennedy called out the young Olympian for not preparing with traditional stretches like the rest of her competitors:
I would like to see something a little more sport-specific from her. What you see out of the top runners—the really heavy hitters—is they’re working those start muscles. They’re working the low back, they're working the arms and the shoulders and getting the power out of them because the start has to be a powerful, explosive movement. ... I’m not sure [dancing] gets the job done for medal contention.
Hansen ended up coming in 10th, but she doesn’t appear to be letting it hamper her Olympic experience.
Be on the lookout for more Hansen twerking. These games aren’t over, and as long as there are Olympic medals to be blessed, there will be twerking.
We can only pray Bob Costas makes some sort of Herculean comeback and ends up dance-blessing a medal with Hansen on air. Just imagine Costas twisted on vodka and antibiotics, trying desperately to replicate this young woman’s body roll as “Don’t Drop That Thun Thun” plays.
They’d have to call off the rest of the events after that, as the remaining gold medals would all be awarded to Bob.
Join me on Twitter for more twerk news.
Erin Hamlin ended a 50-year luge-medal drought for the United States with her individual luge bronze medal, but her work is far from done at the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, with the team relay on the horizon.
But first, the good.
Hamlin posted a total time of 3 minutes, 21.145 seconds in the solo event on Feb. 11 to score a bronze medal, finishing just behind the German duo of Natalie Geisenberger and Tatjana Huefner, who finished with gold and silver, respectively.
As Tom Withers of the Associated Press details, it was quite the historic moment at the podium, as Withers' colleague Tim Reynolds helped to illustrate:
Hamlin herself told reporters after the event she came to Sochi with redemption in mind and is hopeful that her historic moment will help further the sport, via Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today:
I'm stoked. Who knew? I definitely pictured it. It was a big goal of mine. After [the 2010 Games] I was really disappointed, and I knew that's not how I wanted my Olympic legacy to end. It was super-motivating.
Luge isn't the biggest sport at home. Hopefully this gives it a boost, I'm happy to pave the way to the future. Hopefully, it means we get a little more attention, some more funding so we can spread the numbers and a get a lot more kids involved and going forward just get stronger.
Keep in mind, Hamlin's win is the first for a U.S. Olympian in the event—male or female. Her propensity to make history is high considering she also became the first American woman to win a World Luge Championship back in 2009.
Now, Hamlin has another shot at history as she can propel the United States to a medal in the inaugural luge team relay.
Outside of the obvious difficulty of the new competition, Hamlin will also have to deal with her sudden celebrity, which is surely something that will unintentionally work to distract her as she focuses on the next event.
Wayne Drehs of ESPNW provided a brief glimpse into how chaotic Hamlin's life just became:
It was one of those Olympic moments you can never predict. A few weeks ago, most of America had never heard of Erin Hamlin. And even luge junkies overlooked her this week. She hadn't medaled the entire World Cup season and arrived in Sochi the sixth-ranked slider in the world. But then everything changed. Producers from the "Today" show, Ellen DeGeneres and CNN had already called her publicist within hours of her podium finish.
Hamlin leads the four-person team for the U.S. in the event, which also consists of Christopher Mazdzer, Christian Niccum and Jayson Terdiman. Hamlin leads on a single sled as Crew 1, while Mazdzer follows as Crew 2. Crew 3 consists of Niccum and Terdiman, and all sledders will not be able to get out of their gates until the previous sled hits the finish line.
The Germans remain the heavy favorites in the event after historically dominating any event that includes sliding, but Hamlin's recent triumph offers a glimmer of hope for the U.S. if she can remain in form, a form her teammates will somehow have to match to reach the podium.
The U.S. team will have to start fast, but it is in good hands with Hamlin. If she can reach the podium once more, an unbelievable performance in the Games thus far will reach indescribable levels for Hamlin.
Note: All info courtesy of Sochi2014.com unless otherwise specified.
