Germany’s dominance in luge continues

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This article was published 17/02/2010 (6023 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WHISTLER, B.C. — Whatever the country, wherever the track, it’s usually the same story when the world’s best female lugers meet to compete.

It’s Germany against the world — and the world usually gets the worst of it.

It happened again Tuesday as Germany’s Tatjana Huefner took the Vancouver Games gold medal with a four-run time of two minutes 46.524 seconds.

Teammate Natalie Geisenberger took the bronze in 2:47.101 as Austria’s Nina Reithmayer ruined the German women’s bid for a third straight Olympic podium sweep, winning the silver medal in 2:47.014.

“Of course I’m extremely happy to have won the gold,” said Hoefner, who trailed Reithmayer and Geisenberger after the first run but had managed to take the lead after the second of two runs on Monday.

“This is what I worked for for all these years. I was nervous before all four runs but this is what my dream was.”

The event was the swan song for veteran luger Regan Lauscher of Red Deer, Alta. The two-time Olympian capped her 10-year career on the national team by finishing 15th in 2:49.021, 2.497 back of the winner.

Alex Gough of Calgary finished 18th in 2:49.391, while Meaghan Simister of Calgary finished 25th in 2:50.470.

Reithmayer was happy to slide her way onto the podium and wreck Germany’s bid to become the first country in any sport to sweep three consecutive Olympic podiums.

“This is something very special that I was able to place between the two Germans because they are all good athletes, very strong. That’s why I’m happy. I had good preparation. My nerves held up well. I felt good and I was calm.”

The last non-German to win an Olympic medal was Austria’s Angelika Neuner, who earned bronze in 1998.

Last February, Erin Hamlin of the U.S. — who finished 16th Tuesday in 2:49.108 — won the 2009 world championship at Lake Placid, N.Y. The win ended a 12-year, 99-race win streak that included World Cups, world championships and the Olympics.

New streak

Since that loss, German women have established a new streak. They won the last two World Cups of the 2008-09 season and the first eight this season.

There are reasons why Germany dominates this sport.

The country has 35 professional coaches and four world-class tracks. On each of those tracks, schoolchildren take part in luge the way Canadians take part in hockey or soccer.

Germany’s elite athletes work either in the army, the police or the border patrol. They earn full salaries, but only spend three months of each year at those jobs. For nine months they train and compete.

There are two national sport institutes, one that develops better equipment and another that helps athletes improve through sport science.

— Canwest News Service