Germans one-two in Olympic women's luge

February 11, 1998

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Germans one-two in Olympic women's luge

(Spiral, Nagano City)
14:00- Start

Silke Kraushaar edged teammate Barbara Niedernhuber by a mere 0.002 second Wednesday as German lugers finished 1-2 in the women's single luge competition at the 18th Olympic Winter Games in Nagano.

Kraushaar overtook the first-day leader on the fourth and final run of competition at the Spiral bobsleigh and luge track for a winning total time of 3 minutes, 23.779 seconds and the gold medal.

Niedernhuber, who led by 0.056 second after Tuesday's first two runs, lost time on both of Wednesday's runs and ended up with the silver medal in 3:23.781.

''We both had confidence that we would be able to win medals, but I'm really happy to have received the gold,'' Kraushaar said.

Niedernhuber remarked, ''There was no difference in ability, but that's the way sports are.''

One German team offical remarked that the 1-2 finish was not unusual since both competitors, as soldiers, follow the same training schedule.

Meanwhile, Angelika Neuner of Austria posted the fastest fourth run down the 1,194-meter course with a time of 50.605 seconds but had too much ground to make up and finished with the bronze medal in 3:24.253.

Japan's top luger Eriko Yamada had two good runs, but still had to settle for a disappointing 21st place, while Yumie Kobayashi, the daughter of former Olympic luge competitors, ended in 25th -- nearly seven seconds off the pace.

The results infuriated team leader Toru Ito.

''(Yamada and Kobayashi) have not reflected on these terrible results. They have no understanding of what it means to be a Japanese Olympic team member,'' he said. (Kyodo News)

Final results of women's single luge Wednesday in the 18th Olympic Winter Games at Spiral, Nagano (course 1,194 meters, vertical drop 96 meters):

1. Silke Kraushaar, Germany 3 minutes, 23.779 seconds (first run 51.197, second run 51.178, third run 50.787, final run 50.617)

2. Barbara Niedernhuber, Germany 3:23.781 (51.216, 51.103, 50.837, 50.625)

3. Angelika Neuner, Austria 3:24.253 (51.417, 51.286, 50.945, 50.605)

4. Susi Erdmann, Germany 3:24.449 (51.475, 51.348, 50.895, 50.731)

5. Andrea Tagwerker, Austria 3:24.491 (51.518, 51.335, 50.990, 50.648)

6. Erin Warren, U.S. 3:25.328 (51.644, 51.461, 51.364, 50.859)

7. Cammy Myler, U.S. 3:25.475 (51.795, 51.654, 51.219, 50.807)

8. Bethany Calcaterra-McMahon, U.S. 3:25.558 (51.696, 51.651, 51.296, 50.915)

9. Gerda Weissensteiner, Italy 3:26.113 (51.744, 51.998, 51.415, 50.956)

10. Sonja Manzenreiter, Austria 3:26.272 (51.892, 51.828, 51.369, 51.183)

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21. Eriko Yamada, Japan 3:29.423 (53.494, 53.015, 51.595, 51.319)

23. Shino Yanagisawa, Japan 3:29.834 (52.762, 52.706, 52.243, 52.123)

25. Yumie Kobayashi, Japan 3:30.770 (52.829, 53.025, 52.198, 52.718)

29. Lee Yi-fang, Taiwan 3:40.034 (55.052, 55.217, 56.648, 53.117)

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