Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt in front of Toni Eggert and Sascha Benecken, but great respect for the treacherous curve 13: One day before the Olympic decision of the luge doubles in China, the two German teams found their way well in the Yanqing ice track.
The Olympic champions Wendl/Arlt won the final training session on Tuesday and seem to have reached their best form before the only two crucial rounds in the competition on Wednesday (from 1:20 p.m. CET/8:20 p.m. ET). In five out of six training runs, the Bavarians were faster than the world champions Eggert/Benecken.
“Anyone who knows us knows that we will be strong at the back. We are in good spirits,” said Arlt. After the dress rehearsal, pilot Wendl recognized “small mistakes” in curve 13 shortly before the finish, but is in good spirits overall – also for the key point.
National coach Norbert Loch has a simple recipe for turn 13 ready. “Norbert just said over the radio: Eggs, we need eggs, we have to keep calm and let the box shoot,” said Wendl. In the women’s singles, world champion Julia Taubitz lost all chances for gold when she fell on Monday in the exit of the passage.
Eggert/Benecken are still waiting for their first Olympic victory, but according to their own statements, they don’t feel any greater pressure. “In the last few years we have always shown at the high points that we have very good and stable nerves,” assured pilot Eggert: “We were able to stabilize our driving skills and put everything together well.”
Biggest German rivals in the fight for Olympic gold are likely to be Thomas Steu and Lorenz Koller. The Austrians were not only the fastest in the first run on Tuesday, they also won the four previous practice sessions.