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Germany’s Johannes Ludwig, Austria’s Wolfgang Kindl or Italy’s Dominik Fischnaller will greater than possible be the Olympic males’s luge champion on Sunday.
A minimum of, that’s what historical past says.
Ludwig, Kindl and Fischnaller had been the leaders after Saturday’s first two runs on the Yanqing Sliding Middle, and that’s an excellent omen for them. There have been 15 earlier Olympic males’s luge competitions; in all 15, the eventual gold medalist has been no worse than third after the primary two heats.
Ludwig, this season’s World Cup champion, completed his two runs in 1 minute, 54.501 seconds. He is aware of he’s two runs from gold, although wished no a part of discussing what an Olympic victory would imply.
“I’ll see tomorrow,” Ludwig mentioned. “I feel it will be one other massive level of my profession, however it’s not occurred but. That’s why we’ll discuss tomorrow about this, OK?”
Kindl completed in 1:54.540 and Fischnaller in 1:54.805.
“I’ve by no means been on this place after the primary day,” Fischnaller mentioned. “I’m enthusiastic about that, to be trustworthy. We’ll return to the village, have dinner, tomorrow morning we’ll put together the sled once more — after which it’s go time.”
Felix Loch, the two-time Olympic males’s champion from Germany, was in fourth, simply behind Fischnaller in 1:54.883. Latvia’s Kristers Aparjods (1:54.961) rounded out the highest 5.
“I like shut racing,” U.S. luge veteran Chris Mazdzer mentioned. “Shut racing is so essential. Plenty of occasions this yr, it hasn’t been shut racing. It seems like a 1-2 showdown and that bronze continues to be anyone’s recreation. It’s fairly superior.”
Mazdzer — the 2018 Olympic silver medalist who was a bit shaken up after a coaching crash Friday that stored him from strolling within the opening ceremony — is the highest American on the halfway level, sitting ninth and two spots forward of Tucker West. Jonny Gustafson, making his Olympic debut, is 18th going into Sunday’s remaining runs of the competitors.
Mazdzer and West have emerged because the frontrunners for the boys’s spot within the U.S. entry for the workforce relay, a race the place the Individuals consider they will win a medal.
“The aim has at all times been to make the relay, to attempt to have the higher likelihood to medal in that,” West mentioned.
Defending Olympic gold medalist David Gleirscher of Austria is eighth, greater than a second off the lead.
“It’s an enormous hole,” Gleirscher mentioned. “It’s an enormous problem for everyone to have 4 good runs. … I feel not a lot is feasible now.”
For some, the competitors was over earlier than it began. There have been 35 males who had been entered into the Olympic discipline; solely 34 made it to the beginning line. Italy’s Kevin Fischnaller — Dominik Fischnaller’s cousin — discovered Thursday that his Olympics had been over due to a optimistic COVID-19 take a look at.
For others, victory has nothing to do with outcomes.
The Kumaritashvili household of Georgia now, lastly, has seen certainly one of their very own compete in an Olympic luge race, with Saba Kumaritashvili — the cousin of Nodar Kumaritashvili, who died in a coaching accident on the day the 2010 Vancouver Video games opened — is thirtieth on the halfway level.
And Poland’s Mateusz Sochowicz, who was badly injured in a crash on the Yanqing observe in November — fracturing his left kneecap and chopping his proper leg to the bone — is sitting in twenty seventh place, dealing with lengthy odds to get to a fourth run on Sunday. Solely the highest 20 after the third run will transfer to the ultimate warmth.
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Extra AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/winter-olympics and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
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