Natalie Geisenberger of Germany in action during training, February 5, 2022. — Reuters pic
YANQING, Feb 6 — Reigning Olympic women’s luge champion Natalie Geisenberger crashed in training at the Winter Games on Sunday on the same curve — the 13th on the track — where she wiped out in a training event in November.
The German is bidding for a third straight gold in the women’s singles.
She lost control on the tricky 13th of the 16 curves and landed on the ice at the Yanqing National Sliding Centre before dusting herself off.
It was the same spot where she crashed in November.
“The curve was shaded by sails” to protect the ice from the sun, “and I became disorientated,” explained Geisenberger, who won the event at both the 2014 Sochi and 2018 Pyeongchang Games.
The German admits the twisting 13th curve is a particular concern.
“At the bottom of curve 13, it’s always a bit of a case of ‘hold your breath’ for me,” she said on Saturday.
“That is not quite my spot,” she added ahead of Monday’s heats.
However, the German bounced back in her second run on Sunday to post the fastest time on the sixth and final training heat, covering the 1.475 kilometre-long track in just 59.018 seconds.
The medals will be decided on Tuesday.
Geisenberger had also been fastest in each of the first four training runs as she bids to win the sixth Olympic medal of her glittering career. — AFP