FILE PHOTO: 2022 Beijing Olympics - Luge - Team Relay Competition - National Sliding Centre, Beijing, China - February 10, 2022. Tobias Wendl of Germany and Tobias Arlt of Germany react after winning gold. REUTERS/Thomas Peter/ File Photo
LONDON, Jan 21 (Reuters) - To say that Germany is the dominant force in Olympic luge barely does justice to the country’s near-total hegemony of the high-speed, “feet-first” sliding event and it would be a huge surprise if they do not win most, if not all of the five golds available in Cortina next month.
Since the sport joined the Olympic programme in 1964, Germany, in its various guises, has taken a remarkable 38 of the 52 available luge golds, including 11 of the last 12.
On the women’s side they have won an astonishing 16 of the last 21 medals, including all seven golds. Germany have also won all three mixed relays since that event was added in 2014 and have a chance to mine even more metal next month with the addition of the women’s doubles.
Luge is the fastest sport in the Winter Olympics, with athletes reaching speeds of 90 mph (145kph) while barely seeing where they are going and steering round the track’s testing curves with subtle movement of their bodies.
Germany's Natalie Geisenberger has retired having won the last three women’s singles and queuing up to fill the vacuum are compatriots Julia Taubitz, Merle Fraebel and Anna Berreiter, who took silver four years ago.
American duo Summer Britcher and Ashley Farquharson, Austria's Hannah Prock and compatriot and current joint World Cup leader Lisa Schulte should also be in the mix.
Taubitz, who finished seventh in Beijing, is overdue an Olympic medal to go alongside her haul of eight gold and seven silvers across various world championship events since 2019.
Germany should also start as favourites to take the inaugural women’s doubles but Austria, in the shape of current World Cup leaders Selina Egle and Lara Kipp, have won the last two world championships and will present a stiff challenge.
Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt have won the last three Olympic men’s doubles golds and have continued that form as they lead the World Cup standings .
Superstar Felix Loch won the men’s singles in 2010 and 2014 and feels he is in great shape to claim a third.
"I have not been this good for some time," said Loch, 36, who has a remarkable 14 world championship titles to his name. "The goal is a medal. Whether it is one or several, we will have to wait and see."
Standing in his way are likely to be teammate Max Langenhan, the 2025 world champion, and Austria's Jonas Mueller, who has won the last two World Cup events.
Luge is the first of the three sliding sports on the programme in Cortina, running from February 7-12.
(Reporting by Mitch Phillips, editing by Toby Davis)
