Luge at the 2010 Winter Olympics – Women's singles

The women's luge at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada took place on 15–16 February at the Whistler Sliding Centre in Whistler, British Columbia.[1] Germany's Sylke Otto was the two-time defending Olympic champion.[2] Otto retired midway through the 2006-07 season in January 2007 to pregnancy and after suffering a crash at the track in Königssee, Germany.[3] Erin Hamlin of the United States was the defending world champion.[4] The test event that took place at the venue was won by Germany's Natalie Geisenberger.[5] The last World Cup event prior to the 2010 games took place in Cesana, Italy on 31 January 2010 and was won by Geisenberger.[6] Geisenberger's teammate Tatjana Hüfner, the defending Olympic bronze medalist,[2] won the overall World Cup for 2009-10 season in women's singles.[7]

Women's singles at the XXI Olympic Winter Games
Photo of the medal ceremony
Venue	Whistler Sliding Centre
Dates	15–16 February
Competitors	29 from 13 nations
Winning time	2:46.524
Medalists
Tatjana Hüfner  Germany Nina Reithmayer  Austria Natalie Geisenberger  Germany

Records

While the IOC does not consider luge times eligible for Olympic records, the International Luge Federation (FIL) does maintain records for both the start and a complete run at each track it competes.

These records were set during the test event at the women's singles/ men's doubles start house for the 2010 Games on 20 February 2009.

Type[5]	Date	Athlete	Time
Start	20 February 2009	Natalie Geisenberger (GER)	7.183
Track	20 February 2009	Natalie Geisenberger (GER)	48.992

Death of Nodar Kumaritashvili

During training on February 12, 2010, Georgian luger, Nodar Kumaritashvili was going at over 143 kilometres per hour (89 mph) when he crashed in the last turn and hit a steel pole. He was administered CPR at the track, then taken away to hospital where he was later pronounced dead. Training was immediately stopped.[8] As a result, the start of the men's single competition was moved to the women's/doubles' start to reduce speed and the wall at corner where Kumaritashvili crashed was raised.[9]

Investigations were conducted the same day, concluding that the accident was not caused by deficiencies in the track. A joint statement was issued by the FIL, the International Olympic Committee, and the Vancouver Organizing Committee over Kurmaitasvili's death with training suspended for the rest of that day.[10] According to the Coroners Service of British Columbia and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the cause was to Kumaritashvili coming out of turn 15 late and not compensating for turn 16.[11] Because of this fatality, an extra 40 yd (37 m) of wall was added after the end of turn 16 and the ice profile was changed.[11] It also moved the men's singles luge event from its starthouse to the one for both the women's singles and men's doubles event.[12] Kumaritashvili is the first Olympic athlete to die at the Winter Olympics in training since 1992[12] and the first luger to die in a practice event at the Winter Olympics since Kazimierz Kay-Skrzypeski of Great Britain was killed at the luge track used for the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck.[13] It was also luge's first fatality (on an artificial track[14]) since 10 December 1975, when an Italian luger was killed.[15] Kumaritavili's teammate Levan Gureshidze withdrew prior to the first run of the event.[14]

Women's singles and men's doubles start was moved to the Junior start house of the track, located after turn 6.[16] Germany's Geisenberger complained that it was not a women's start but more of a kinder ("child" in German) start. Her teammate Hüfner who had the fastest speed on two runs of 82.3 mph (132.4 km/h) stated that the new start position "..does not help good starters like myself".[16] American Erin Hamlin stated the track was still demanding even after the distance was lessened from 1,193 to 953 m (3,914 to 3,127 ft) and that you were still hitting 80 mph (130 km/h).[16]

On 23 March 2010, FIL President Fendt, VANOC President John Furlong, 2010 men's singles gold medalist Felix Loch of Germany visited Kumaritashvili's grave in his hometown of Bakuriani to pay respects as part of tradition in the Georgian Orthodox Church.[17]

The FIL published their report in regards to Kumaritashvili's death after the FIL Commissions Meeting in St. Leonhard, Austria (near Salzburg) for both sport and technical commissions on 9–11 April 2010.[18] This report was prepared by FIL Secretary General Svein Romstad and Vice President Claire DelNegro, who are from the United States.[18]

Qualifying athletes

These are the athletes who qualified for the women's singles event as of 4 February 2010.[19]

Hannah Campbell-Pegg (AUS)  Mihaela Chiras (ROU)  Julia Clukey (USA)  Sandra Gasparini (ITA)  Natalie Geisenberger (GER)  Alex Gough (CAN)  Veronika Halder (AUT)  Erin Hamlin (USA)  Madoka Harada (JPN)  Tatjana Hüfner (GER)

Tatiana Ivanova (RUS)  Natalia Khoreva (RUS)  Martina Kocher (SUI)  Agnese Koklaca (LAT)  Regan Lauscher (CAN)  Liliya Ludan (UKR)  Anna Orlova (LAT)  Nina Reithmayer (AUT)  Alexandra Rodionova (RUS)  Veronika Sabolová (SVK)

Meaghan Simister (CAN)  Jana Šišajová (SVK)  Ewelina Staszulonek (POL)  Raluca Strămăturaru (ROU)  Violeta Strămăturaru (ROU) (withdrawn)  Megan Sweeney (USA)  Maija Tīruma (LAT)  Anke Wischnewski (GER)  Natalya Yakuchenko (UKR)  Aya Yasuda (JPN)

Results

The first two runs took place on 15 February at 17:00 PST and 18:30 PST.[1] On 16 February, the final two runs took place at 13:00 PST and 14:30 PST.[1]

Julia Clukey during one of runs on the first day of the competition

First run start order was released on the morning of 15 February 2010.[20]

Romania's Violeta Stramturaru was knocked unconscious on 11 February 2010 after slamming into several walls during a training run.[21] She was strapped to a backboard and placed on a stretcher though her arms were moving.[21] Stramuraru's sister Raluca, who had completed her run before her sister and made it through without issue, rushed to the end of the observation deck to see if she was okay as the public address announcer directed medical personnel to the scene.[21] American Sweeney, sliding after Violeta, went airborne prior to the final curve and crashed though she walked away shaken up.[21] Violeta later withdrew prior to the event while Raluca would finish 21st.

Yasuda was disqualified after the first run after her post-competition weigh in for having too heavy a sled. Her sled weighed 13.3 kg (29.3 lb) when the maximum allowed by the FIL is 13.1 kg (28.9 lb)[22] Romania's Chiras crashed out during the second run, the only crash during the actual competition. Šišajová caused a sensation when she went airborne during the fourth run on Turn 13 though she managed to stay on her sled.[23] Prior to her fourth run, Hüfner took a nap to ease her nervousness.[23] Geisenberger's final run was delayed when a track-side photographer accidentally set off a water hose.[23]

Defending World Champion Hamlin finished a disappointing 16th. Hüfner followed up her bronze at the 2006 Winter Olympics with gold in this Olympics. Reithmeyer, who finished eighth at Turin, earned her best career finish and became the first non-German to medal in this event at the Winter Olympics since fellow Austrian Angelika Neuner won bronze at Nagano in 1998.[23][24] Defending European champion Ivanova finished fourth on her 19th birthday. The margin of victory was the largest since 1994.[24]

Two-time Olympic champion Otto commented to Reuters that "Tatti (Hüfner's nickname) is a very strong slider and still relatively young so she could achieve what I did and win this again."[23]

Canada's Gough commented on the 14th in the wake of Kumaritashvili's death two days earlier that "We’ve got the world championships here in a few years (2013) so hopefully we can actually have a race." instead of the start at the Junior start house.[23]

Time listed at top in italics is start time while time below is the track time. SR - Start Record. TR - Track Record. Top finishes in both times are in boldface.

Rank	Bib	Athlete	Country	Run 1[25]	Run 2[26]	Run 3[27]	Run 4[28]	Total	Behind
	6	Tatjana Hüfner	Germany	8.437 41.760	8.370 41.481	8.377 41.666	8.363 41.617	2:46.524	0.000
	2	Nina Reithmayer	Austria	8.413 41.728	8.403 41.563	8.448 41.884	8.458 41.839	2:47.014	+0.490
	10	Natalie Geisenberger	Germany	8.410 41.743	8.383 41.657	8.372 41.800	8.401 41.901	2:47.101	+0.577
4	23	Tatiana Ivanova	Russia	8.417 41.816	8.377 41.601	8.406 41.914	8.395 41.850	2:47.181	+0.657
5	9	Anke Wischnewski	Germany	8.431 41.785	8.406 41.685	8.452 41.894	8.429 41.889	2:47.253	+0.729
6	8	Alexandra Rodionova	Russia	8.416 41.828	8.420 41.731	8.434 41.984	8.446 41.913	2:47.456	+0.932
7	3	Martina Kocher	Switzerland	8.449 42.005	8.357 41.697	8.412 41.976	8.405 41.897	2:47.575	+1.051
8	29	Ewelina Staszulonek	Poland	8.521 41.975	8.506 41.816	8.504 41.948	8.517 41.882	2:47.621	+1.097
9	16	Maija Tīruma	Latvia	8.465 41.773	8.518 41.933	8.501 42.012	8.471 41.936	2:47.654	+1.130
10	24	Natalia Khoreva	Russia	8.444 41.932	8.427 41.785	8.464 42.175	8.442 42.092	2:47.984	+1.460
11	1	Natalya Yakuchenko	Ukraine	8.478 42.119	8.473 41.809	8.539 42.132	8.489 42.026	2:48.086	+1.562
12	7	Veronika Halder	Austria	8.570 42.015	8.574 41.881	8.563 42.078	8.615 42.143	2:48.117	+1.593
13	26	Anna Orlova	Latvia	8.512 41.998	8.546 41.947	8.569 42.260	8.531 42.100	2:48.305	+1.781
14	17	Veronika Sabolová	Slovakia	8.463 41.999	8.488 41.925	8.588 42.563	8.482 42.055	2:48.542	+2.018
15	13	Regan Lauscher	Canada	8.700 42.368	8.670 42.289	8.564 42.211	8.546 42.153	2:49.021	+2.497
16	11	Erin Hamlin	United States	8.461 41.835	8.640 42.219	8.826 42.792	8.661 42.262	2:49.108	+2.584
17	12	Julia Clukey	United States	8.456 42.059	8.546 42.075	8.615 42.472	8.756 42.754	2:49.360	+2.836
18	5	Alex Gough	Canada	8.711 42.275	8.775 42.411	8.636 42.346	8.673 42.359	2:49.391	+2.867
19	15	Liliya Ludan	Ukraine	8.660 42.312	8.650 42.302	8.699 42.477	8.669 42.364	2:49.455	+2.931
20	14	Sandra Gasparini	Italy	8.540 42.339	8.550 42.161	8.733 42.881	8.676 42.621	2:50.002	+3.478
21	22	Raluca Strămăturaru	Romania	8.593 42.475	8.603 42.198	8.631 42.815	8.631 42.584	2:50.072	+3.548
22	4	Megan Sweeney	United States	8.623 42.450	8.717 42.690	8.647 42.625	8.683 42.450	2:50.215	+3.691
23	28	Hannah Campbell-Pegg	Australia	8.670 42.527	8.679 42.570	8.663 42.606	8.633 42.519	2:50.222	+3.698
24	27	Agnese Koklaca	Latvia	8.541 42.627	8.578 42.334	8.593 43.091	8.595 42.336	2:50.388	+3.864
25	20	Meaghan Simister	Canada	8.663 42.524	8.658 42.497	8.703 42.787	8.697 42.662	2:50.470	+3.946
26	18	Madoka Harada	Japan	8.716 42.608	8.594 42.112	8.674 42.572	8.920 43.188	2:50.480	+3.956
27	19	Jana Šišajová	Slovakia	8.610 42.297	8.560 42.172	8.630 42.529	8.645 48.101	2:55.099	+8.575
	25	Mihaela Chiras	Romania	8.692 43.494	8.615 DNF			DNF
	21	Aya Yasuda	Japan					DSQ

References

1. 2010 Winter Olympics Luge schedule. - accessed 8 November 2009.
2. FIL-Luge.org Winter Olympic medalists: 1964-2006. - accessed 8 November 2009.
3. Sylke Otto retires immediately. at the Fédération Internationale de Luge de Course (12 January 2007 article accessed 8 November 2009.)
4. FIL-Luge.org World Luge championship medalists: 1955-2009. - accessed 8 November 2009.
5. FIL Luge World Cup Whistler 20 February 2009 women's singles result. - accessed 8 November 2009.
6. FIL Luge World Cup Cesana 31 January 2010 women's singles results. - accessed 31 January 2010.
7. Natalie Geisenberger wins Season's final in Viessmann Luge World Cup. at the Fédération Internationale de Luge de Course (31 January 2010 article accessed 31 January 2010.)
8. ZINSER, LYNN (February 12, 2010). "Luge Athlete Killed in Training Crash at Olympics". New York Times. Retrieved February 12, 2010.
9. "Officials delay reopening of sliding track". CTV. February 13, 2010.
10. Joined Statement of IOC, FIL, and VANOC. at the Fédération Internationale de Luge de Course (12 February 2010 article accessed 13 February 2010.
11. Joint VANOC-FIL Statement on Men's Luge Competition. at the Fédération Internationale de Luge de Course (13 February 2010 article accessed 13 February 2010.)
12. "Men's Olympic lugers will start lower on track". - 12 February 2010 NBCOlympics.com article accessed 13 February 2010.
13. "Luge (Toboggan): Men". In The Complete Book of the Winter Olympics: 2010 Edition. (2009). David Wallechinsky and Jaime Loucky, Editor. London: Aurum Press Limited. p. 158.
14. "Georgian luger Levan Gureshidze pulls out of event". BBC News. 14 February 2010. Retrieved 2010-02-14.
15. "Luge start moved as officials defend Whistler Sliding track". Vancouver2010.com. 13 February 2010. Retrieved 13 February 2010.
16. "Luge-Women sliders now have kids race - German". Martyn Herman (Reuters via Yahoo! Sports). (14 February 2010 article accessed 14 February 2010.
17. VANOC President Furlong, FIL President Fendt and Olympic champion Loch. at the Fédération Internationale de Luge de Course (25 March 2010 article accessed 27 March 2010.)
18. FIL Final Report to be published after Commissions meetings. at the Fédération Internationale de Luge de Course (25 March 2010 article accessed 27 March 2010.)
19. Vancouver2010.com luge athletes. - accessed 4 February 2010.
20. 2010 Winter Olympics 15 February 2010 Luge women's single start. - accessed 15 February 2010.
21. "Romanian women's luger hurt in crash" - 11 February 2010 Tom Withers (AP) Yahoo! Sports article accessed 23 February 2010.
22. "Japan's slender slider has weighty problem". - 16 February 2010 Yahoo! Sports article accessed 16 February 2010.
23. "Huefner's power nap leads to a golden dream". - Martyn Herman's Yahoo! Sports 16 February 2010 article accessed 17 February 2010.
24. Wallechinsky, David and Jaime Loucky (2009). "Luge (Toboggan): Women". In The Complete Book of the Winter Olympics: 2010 Edition. London: Aurum Press Limited. p. 172.
25. 2010 Winter Olympics 15 February 2010 Luge women's singles run 1 results. - accessed 16 February 2010.
26. 2010 Winter Olympics 15 February 2010 Luge women's singles run 2 results. - accessed 16 February 2010.
27. 2010 Winter Olympics 16 February 2010 Luge women's singles run 3 results. - accessed 16 February 2010.
28. 2010 Winter Olympics 16 February Luge women's singles run 4 results. Archived 2010-04-08 at the Wayback Machine - accessed 17 February 2010.