Gleirscher claims Austria luge title in 50 yrs

Loch implodes in record bid

PYEONGCHANG, South Korea, Feb 11, (RTRS): Surprise package David Gleirscher claimed Austria’s first Olympic luge gold in 50 years at the Pyeongchang Games on Sunday after 2014 champion Felix Loch stumbled dramatically with his third successive title in sight.

The 23-year-old police moved to the top podium position with a composed final run but Loch needed only to complete an error-free effort at the Olympic Sliding Centre to be assured of his golden hat-trick for Germany.

Having been flawless all weekend, he crashed heavily into the wall midway through his run, knocking him completely off medal pace and leaving a disbelieving Gleirscher jumping for joy in the leaders’ booth.

The Austrian claimed the title with an aggregate time of three minutes 10.702 seconds, just 0.026 seconds ahead of runner-up Chris Mazdzer who became the United States’ first man to claim an individual Olympic luge medal.

Germany’s Johannes Ludwig won the bronze, his compatriot Loch finishing a scarcely believable fifth, ending eight years of Olympic dominance, with his bid to match compatriot and mentor Georg Hackl’s 1990s hat-trick in ruins.

The bearded Gleirscher has a fine

David Gleirscher of Austria celebrates his gold medal winning final run during the men’s luge competition at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, on

Feb 11. (AP)

pedigree, with his father a three-times Olympian luger, but he had never made the podium at a World Cup event and only just sneaked on to Austria’s team for Pyeongchang.

“This is quite unbelievable,” the beaming Austrian told a media conference. “Indeed it has been like a fairytale ... I never made a podium at a World Cup and now here I am at the top of the podium.”

On a bone-chilling night at the Olympic Sliding Centre, Loch was smiling after he grabbed the track record