Luge Preview: A Long, Winding Road for U.S.
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(AP) -- Emily Sweeney is headed to the Olympics to represent USA Luge for a second time, and her plans for the next couple weeks are largely the same as the final preparations were for her debut at the Pyeongchang Games four years ago.
With one minor exception.
The plan this time includes a new twist: "Not getting COVID," she said.
It has not been an easy season for USA Luge. Some athletes got hurt, others never found consistent speed, there were no races on familiar ice in North America. The top doubles sled of Chris Mazdzer and Jayson Terdiman didn't make the Olympics and Sweeney had to miss two World Cups in Russia because, as an active soldier in the U.S. Army, she wasn't allowed to go there under current military guidelines.
And, of course, there are the virus concerns, which could still thwart anyone's plans of racing at the Beijing Games. But there is hope, perhaps especially on the women's side where Sweeney and Summer Britcher have routinely had some of the best speeds in the world all season.
Mazdzer won an Olympic silver medal in 2018 and he'll be back for a fourth time, leading a men's team that includes veteran Olympian Tucker West and newcomer Jonny Gustafson. Britcher, Sweeney and Olympic rookie Ashley Farquharson are the women's sliders, and rookies Zack Di Gregorio and Sean Hollander are the doubles team that the Americans are sending.
And even though some of their teammates didn't make the Olympic cut, there has been a camaraderie that was essential this season.
WOMEN'S SINGLES
At least two women will break through and reach the Olympic medal stand for the first time, since two-time defending gold medalist Natalie Geisenberger of Germany is the only past medalist expected to be in this field. Dajana Eitberger, the 2018 silver medalist from Germany, didn't qualify and 2018 bronze medalist Alex Gough of Canada retired.
A third consecutive gold would only add to Geisenberger's argument as being her sport's greatest ever -- no woman has ever gone back-to-back-to-back at the Olympics or won an individual medal in four straight games.
There are plenty of contenders: Germany's Julia Taubitz and Austria's Madeleine Egle have been the most consistent all year, and there's no question that Britcher and Sweeney can both find their way to the medal stand.
MEN'S SINGLES
King Felix is back, seeking to reclaim his title.
Felix Loch won Olympic gold in 2010 and 2014 for Germany and was the leader entering the fourth and final run of the 2018 race -- then bumped a wall, lost a ton of speed and fell all the way to fifth place. Austria's David Gleirscher prevailed, with Mazdzer second for the U.S.
Loch is back and right there among the top contenders for these games. Fellow German slider Johannes Ludwig -- a winner by a massive margin in the preseason race at Yanqing -- will likely be the favorite, while Latvia's Kristers Aparjods, Austria's Wolfgang Kindl and Germany's Max Langerhan have been consistent for most of the season. Another name to watch: Dominik Fischnaller of Italy, always a medal threat.