The ice channel, which meanders down the mountain like a dragon in a former nature reserve in Yanqing, has 16 curves. And especially the 13th has it all, she claimed several falls yesterday. With Madeleine Egle, it also carried Austria’s greatest hope for a medal right there off the sled.
However, the 23-year-old managed the feat of sitting up again at full speed and was seventh after two of four rounds, 1.010 seconds behind the German Natalie Geisenberger, ahead of her compatriot Anna Berreiter (+0.208) and the Russian Tatyana Ivanova (+0.591) leads. Behind them are the Austrians Hannah Prock (4th / +0.669), Lisa Schulte (5th / +0.772) and Egle in a promising position. Despite the best time in the second run, the latter no longer wanted to talk about a medal: “I think the chance is very small.”
Also in turn 13 the medal dream of the German Julia Taubitz burst. However, the leader after the first run couldn’t get back on the sled after a fall. “The spot is very tricky”Prock explained “New German”. The 22-year-old daughter of the ten-time luge overall World Cup winner Markus Prock, who now runs the local association, was only 78 thousandths short of a place in the top three at half-time. She spoke accordingly “from a few little things”which she wants to do better today (from 12.50 p.m. CET live on ORF1).
Arm fracture at Müller
Yannick Müller was hit the hardest. Armin Frauscher’s top man broke his left forearm yesterday when the doubles rider crashed in training. The rescue chain only worked sluggishly, as coach Rene Friedl described. For the time being, no help came in the run, only the team doctor brought by Frauscher provided first aid. The Vorarlberger and the Tyrolean start their journey home today. So only Thomas Steu and Lorenz Koller will represent Austria in the doubles competition starting tomorrow.
Source: Nachrichten
