Germany sweeps third luge gold at Beijing Olympics

Beijing (dpa) – Germany secured Olympic gold in luge for the third time at the Beijing Games after Tobias Wendl and Tobias Artl topped the open doubles on Wednesday.

The German team also clinched silver with Toni Eggert and Sascha Benecken, while bronze went to Thomas Steu and Lorenz Koller of Austria.

“This is indescribable. This is the toughest gold medal. We are fighters, we are biters. You can count on us every four years at the Games,” Wendl said.

Wendl and Artl built on their first run lead to clock a total time of 1 minute 56.554 seconds. They are now the first-ever male sliders to get five Olympic golds, joining compatriot Natalia Geisenberger on the mark after she won the women’s individual on Tuesday.

“Now a dream has come true. We can’t really believe it. The fifth gold medal, that’s just awesome,” Wendl stated.

Arlt, meanwhile, remembered his experience at the Olympics quarantine hotel – including cockroaches – after his false-positive Covid test. “These experiences have helped to improve the overall situation,” he said.

Eggert and Benecken were just 0.099 seconds behind, and the Austrians finished 0.511 seconds off the pace.

Eggert said his compatriots deserved the win and celebrated the podium. “We are super happy that we clinched silver. There is still room for improvement.”

Germany are tipped to sweep all four luge events as in 2018, with the concluding team relay competition on Thursday. Johannes Ludwig and Geisenberger took gold in the two previous individual competitions.

In case of victory, Wendl and Artl, as well as Geisenberger, can become the first German athletes to win six Winter Olympic golds.

Speed skater Claudia Pechstein also has five, but she still tops the overall German medal board with nine in total.