Felix Loch Tops Luge Qualifying Results at 2018 Winter Olympics
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.
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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.
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