First competitors of Gangwon 2024 make their mark
The women’s singles luge was the first event to get underway at this Winter YOG.
Amanda Ogorodnikova of Latvia was the first slider on the track, starting her opening run just after 08:30 Korean Standard Time (KST). Her time of 48.664 seconds was enough to be sixth after all the competitors had finished their opening runs. She went on to also place sixth in the second run, and finish sixth overall.
Germany’s Pietschmann was the only athlete to complete the course in under 48 seconds, her opening run of 47.985 put her into the lead.
Last to go in the second run, she went even faster, her 47.789 securing the gold with an overall time of 1 minute, 35.774 seconds at the Alpensia Sliding Centre track, which also hosted the event at the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018.
It’s a 10th luge medal at the Winter YOG events for the German team, a powerhouse nation in sliding sports who hold the most podiums overall in luge.
Silver medallist Oberstolz finished second fastest in both runs for a total time of 1:36.326 including a top speed of 111 km/h.
The medal ceremony will take place after the men’s doubles luge later on Saturday.
Therefore, the first medal actually given to an athete at Gangwon 2024 is due to be the ski jump women’s normal hill competition, with action live on Olympic Channel via. Olympics.com and our app.