BEIJING (AP) — Johannes Ludwig of Germany won the gold medal in the men’s singles luge at the Beijing Winter Olympics on Sunday.
Johannes Ludwig of Germany is the Olympic champion in men’s luge, adding that to the World Cup overall title he won this season.
It’s the 11th time in 16 Olympics that a German man — counting the days of East Germany and West Germany in there — has won the luge title. Wolfgang Kindl of Austria was second and Dominik Fischnaller of Italy was third.
Ludwig led after all four heats. He set the tone for Sunday’s final two runs of the competition by setting a track record leading off the third heat, putting more pressure on everyone else in the field to catch him.
Nobody did. Only Kindl came close. Chris Mazdzer was the top American, finishing eighth.
Jakara Anthony of Australia has captured the women’s moguls title at the Beijing Olympics.
Anthony’s back flip with a grab at the bottom of the course sewed up the gold medal Sunday on the Secret Garden Olympic course. Her score of 83.09 edged American Jaelin Kauf, who had been poised to pick up the first gold medal for Team USA in China.
Russian athlete Anastasiia Smirnova earned the bronze while defending champion Perrine Laffont of France finished fourth.
The 23-year-old Anthony joins Dale Begg-Smith as the only Aussies to win the Olympic event. Begg-Smith earned his title at the 2006 Turin Games.