Ludwig Crushes Competition in Yanqing

From Yanqing, CHN

(November 20, 2021) – It seemed as though almost nobody could put down two clean runs on the Olympic track in Yanqing, with the part after Kreisel mixing up nearly everybody.

Johannes Ludwig was the exception.

The German luger cruised to an easy victory in Yanqing, putting down the two quickest runs of the race to win gold and grab the track record in the process.

Ludwig was the only slider with a time below 57.5 seconds, with a pair of runs that were just .001 apart. His first run of 57.299 broke the track record handily, then his victory lap run broke that time by just .001.

Ludwig’s margin of victory was .854 in a sport where victories are often down to the hundredth, if not thousandth, of a second.

Germany swept the podium in men’s luge, with Felix Loch putting down the second quickest run of the second heat to jump up from sixth to second. Max Langenhan finished third, just .004 behind Loch.

Olympic chamption David Gleirscher came into the second heat in second place, but couldn’t match the pace from his first run. He finished fourth, one spot ahead of teammate Reinhard Egger in fifth. Italy’s Dominik Fischnaller rounded out the top six, up from ninth in the first heat.

It was a tough day for the North Americans in Yanqing. Canada’s Reid Watts led the way with a 16th place finish, up a spot from his first run. Tucker West was the top American in 21st, while Jonny Gustafson finished 25th.

Austria’s Nico Gleirscher finished 20th after crashing in the first heat.

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