Established 1961 13 Sports Wednesday, February 14, 2018 Golden girl Geisenberger retains Olympic luge title Canada’s Gough celebrates long-awaited medal PYEONGCHANG: German luge queen Natalie Geisenberger built on her slender lead with a blazing Geisenberger defended her Olympic gold medal in third run of 46.28 seconds, piloting her sled with mod- the women’s singles in style yesterday as her nation el German efficiency. As a statement, it was almost as extended its stranglehold over the event to 20 years. loud as the rowdy finish-line terrace, and none came The 30-year-old policewoman roared home to victo- close to answering it. ry ahead of silver medal-winning compatriot Dajana Eitberger, claiming her third Olympic title with a BUMPY RIDE flawless pair of runs at Pyeongchang’s Olympic Second overnight, Eitberger’s challenge stumbled Sliding Centre. with a bumpy third ride but German Vancouver cham- Canada’s Alex Gough grabbed a nerve-jangling pion Tatjana Huefner gave Geisenberger something to bronze, banishing the think about. The 34- heartbreak of two fourth year-old veteran place finishes at Sochi. strapped on her helmet The German one-two with a face of thunder returned the smiles to before firing down the the faces of the luge Germany’s track to slot in just superpower’s camp, behind Geisenberger which was crestfallen on Eitberger ahead of the final run. Sunday after defending There was still a men’s champion Felix grabs silver mountain to climb, how- Loch crashed out of the ever, and it was medals with a horror Eitberger rather than final run. Huefner who threw cau- Geisenberger’s fourth tion to the wind to soar Olympic medal overall into the gold medal cemented her place as luge’s most decorated woman position ahead of Geisenberger’s finale. It did precise- and she shrieked with joy after crossing the finish of ly nothing to rattle the champion who romped to vic- the fourth and final run with an aggregate time of tory with fire in her eyes, her nation’s sixth consecu- PYEONGCHAN: (L-R) Silver medallist Germany’s Dajana Eitberger, gold medallist Germany’s Natalie Geisenberger (C), three minutes and 5.232 seconds. tive gold in the event dating back to the 1998 Nagano and bronze medallist Canada’s Alex Gough celebrate on the podium after the women’s luge singles during the “You could see with Loch, a very small mistake Games. Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympic Games, at the Olympic Sliding Centre yesterday. — AFP could have very serious consequences,” the blonde Sochi bronze medallist Erin Hamlin, the United Munich native told reporters after finishing a yawning States’ first Olympic medal winner in luge, bowed out 0.367 seconds ahead of Eitberger. “For me it was a with a sixth-place finish in her fourth and final Games. sent a scare through the venue. final run was suspended for about 10 minutes. real wake-up call. It brought back to my mind that the A day after the anniversary of the death of Georgian Sweeney lost control and bounced off the sides of After a long inspection by trainers, she got to her race is finished only when you go through the finish luger Nodar Kumaritashvili, who died in a training the track before losing her sled and hammering into a feet and walked groggily away, raising a cheer from line on the fourth run and not earlier.” accident before the Vancouver opening ceremony, a wall. She lay motionless for a few moments before spectators and relieved clapping from team mates Overnight leader after Monday’s opening runs, heavy crash by Hamlin’s team mate Emily Sweeney being helped off the track by medical staff and the down at the finish. — Reuters France waits 70 Medals Table years for medal, Olympic Games complete medals table on day four in PyeongChang. Rank Country G S B Total Germany 5 2 2 9 two come along Netherlands 4 4 2 10 Norway 35311 PYEONGCHANG: Victor Muffat-Jeandet Canada 3 4 3 10 staged an astonishing turnaround and U.S. 3 1 2 6 endured an excruciating wait before helping France 2 1 2 5 end France’s 70-year Olympic medal drought Sweden 2 1 0 3 in the men’s Alpine combined yesterday. Austria 2 0 0 2 Muffat-Jeandet took bronze behind com- Italy 1113 patriot Alexis Pinturault and Austrian champi- South Korea 1 0 1 2 on Marcel Hirscher to give France their first Olympic Athlete from Russia 0 1 4 5 medals in the event since Henri Oreiller won gold and James Couttet bronze in 1948. Japan 0 1 2 3 While Pinturault had been one of the Czech Republic 0 1 1 2 favourites at the Jeongseon Alpine Centre, the Australia 0 1 0 1 chances of Muffat-Jeandet landing a medal China 0 1 0 1 had looked dead and buried when he record- Switzerland 0 1 0 1 ed the 29th fastest time in the downhill run. Slovakia 0 1 0 1 “I was really disappointed and angry with Finland 0 0 2 2 my downhill run,” he told reporters. “In skiing, Kazakhstan 0 0 1 1 you have to do two full runs and with guys PYEONGCHAN: Bronze medallist, France’s Victor Muffat-Jeandet, celebrates during the victory Total 26 26 26 78 like Pinturault and Hirscher, if you do one bad G = Gold, S = Silver, B = Bronze run, it’s not enough for the podium.” ceremony of the Men’s Alpine Combined at the Jeongseon Alpine Center during the Pyeongchang Second out in the slalom as a conse- 2018 Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang yesterday. — AFP quence, the 28-year-old judged his run on the icy slope perfectly and crossed the line in flat.” Muffat-Jeandet had recovered his emo- combined events run on the World Cup cir- 46.97 seconds, only a hundredth of a second tions sufficiently by the time he spoke to cuit this year but Pinturault admitted that outside the time Hirscher clocked for gold. reporters to start enjoying his unlikely tri- when it comes to slalom Hirscher is in a “For me it was still not enough,” he said. umph. “In my dreams I always wanted to be a league of his own. “There was still Marcel, still Alexis, and some skiing champion, but I didn’t even think about “He’s actually really unbeatable in this dis- downhillers who are quite good in slalom. “It an Olympic medal,” he added with a beaming cipline this year,” he said. “So I knew that it’s first lap. “It really helped me get in the was a long wait, guys after guys. In the end smile. going to be difficult, tight, and I had to do my Dominant race and I had really good first cross- everyone was telling me ‘okay, it’s going to be “It seemed such a long way away, the best to make anything. “I’m simply happy. ing thanks to him.” okay’, and I was like ‘No way, there’s still Olympic Games. It’s my first Olympic Games Proud, too, of what Victor and I did, and also Denis Yuskov, who holds the world three or four guys’. qualification, my first race, and I won a for having fought in such a good way to bring Dutch win gold, record in the 1,500m, is not at not at “Finally, I had no more emotion and I was medal.” The two Frenchman won the only two home this silver medal.” — Reuters the Games as part of the fallout from silver in men’s the Russian doping scandal. “Last year I was racing (Yuskov) here and we had a really good race,” Nuis said. prochement, nowhere more evident than on become one,” South Korean spectator Han 1,500m “I enjoyed racing him and it was nice Never mind the the ice hockey rink. Yu-jin, a 20-year-old university student, said to beat him last year. Today I had to Each night, players from the North sleep in during the game against Sweden. do it all by myself and it was also a a different building inside the Olympic ath- GANGNEUNG: Dutch speed skaters good race. Did I miss him? No.” minders: United letes’ village. Though the team eats dinner THE COMMON FOE, JAPAN continued their dominance at the Skating in the fourth pair of the together and has gone to the seaside for cof- That inter-Korean sporting harmony Olympic Games yesterday with world evening, 22-year-old Roest set the Korea team fee, the northerners are watched over by gov- should peak on Wednesday when the team champion Kjeld Nuis powering to time to beat, powering across the line ernment minders, Murray said. takes on Japan, a former colonial power on the gold in the men’s 1,500 metres ahead in 1 minute 44.86 seconds before fac- “But they’re not interfering,” the coach peninsula and common arch rival for both of compatriot Patrick Roest. ing an anxious wait of more than an bonds to K-pop added. Of the 12 northern players, only one North and South Korea. “We have no options South Korea’s Kim Min-seok hour to see where he would end up. has so far appeared at a news conference at other than winning,” South Korean forward sparked wild celebrations by taking “It was not fun. It was very nervous Pyeongchang. None of them has mingled with Kim Hee-won said. “A Korean has a different bronze to open the host nation’s for me,” Roest said after his Olympic GANGNEUNG: They sleep in separate reporters in the co-called mixed zone after mindset for a Korea-Japan match.” speed skating account at the Games.