Natalie Geisenberger Tops Luge Qualifying Results at 2018 Winter Olympics
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:
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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.
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