Gough in running in women’s luge
PYEONGCHANG, KOREA, REPUBLIC OF — Calgary’s Alex Gough finds herself in a good position at the midway point of the women’s luge at the Pyeongchang Games.
Gough is third after the first two runs with a combined time of one minute 32.645 seconds. That leaves the Canadian just 0.191 seconds behind leader Natalie Geisenberger of Germany.
German Dajana Eitberger is second with a time of 1:32.574.
“The track is in great condition and I had pretty good runs,” Gough said. “The ice is a little harder, for sure, but I like it when the ice is hard, so I’m looking forward to seeing what happens (Tuesday).
“Just be really clean and consistent.”
Kimberley McRae, also of Calgary, has more work to do. She’s sixth overall with a combined time of 1:32.788.
“The second run was a little rough on every corner and I definitely lost some time there,” she said. “Sometimes you just get out of rhythm and it’s hard to get back on it, especially if you’re off from the top.
“Every time I come out of
(curve) nine I’m just holding my breath because I don’t want to hit that wall. You definitely just have to relax and let the sled go.”
Geisenberger is in prime position to win a second straight Olympic title. But after seeing fellow German star Felix Loch skid midway through the final run of the men’s race and lose his shot at a third consecutive gold medal, she’s fully aware nothing is assured.
“We saw what could happen if
you make a little mistake,” Geisenberger said. “You lose big, big, big time.”
Germany’s Tatjana Huefner and American Erin Hamlin are also within a quarter-second of Geisenberger.
Curve 9 was Loch’s undoing Sunday night, and it snagged a few of the women’s contenders as well — perhaps most notably Americans Emily Sweeney and Summer Britcher.
Sweeney had a bad wreck in
training on Sunday and was still mindful of it Monday, finishing the first two runs in 15th place. Britcher hit the wall hard in her first run, then rebounded to set a track record in the second — and showed plenty of emotion afterward.
“That was pretty satisfying,” Britcher said. “I don’t think I would have been so happy if I’d had a good first run. But it is hard to come back from a bad run, especially at an Olympics.”