Even on a treacherous track, Germany’s high-powered luge machine never lost traction.
The undisputed queens of luge made the Olympic competition their own, sweeping the medals once again and leaving the rest of the sliding world to wonder what it will take to slow them down.
Sylke Otto won her second straight gold, Silke Kraushaar completed her Olympic collection with a silver and 22-year-old Tatjana Huefner — Germany’s next sledding superstar — won bronze on Tuesday in a performance as predictable as any at the Turin Games.
On the ice, the Germans have no match. Never have, and maybe, never will.
”We work hard for it,” said Huefner. ”We have a good team, a good technician and we take care of ourselves. That is what helps us to be successful.”
It’s been going on for decades.
Of the 36 medals awarded since luge debuted at the Innsbruck Games in 1964, the Germans own 27. They have swept the Olympic competition six times in 12 tries, and now twice in a row.
Otto, a four-time world champion likely sliding in her final Olympics, won in three minutes, 7,979 seconds. As she sped across the finish line, knowing the gold was hers, the 36-year-old raised both arms in celebration.
American Courtney Zablocki finished fourth in her second Olympics, just ,392 seconds behind Huefner, and served notice that the young American team has its sights set on one day catching up to the Germans.
Moments after she was edged out by Huefner for third, Zablocki glanced up at the awards podium, where the three Germans were lined up shoulder to shoulder, celebrating their latest haul of Olympic medals.
She couldn’t bear the painful, familiar sight.
”So close,” she said, biting her upper lip.
There is something the 25-year-old Zablocki can hang her helmet on as consolation: She is the best non-German luger in the world.
”I’m happy where I finished, but at the same time I was really fighting for that spot up there,” said Zablocki. ”I am a little disappointed. Actually, I’m a lot disappointed.” – AFP