Luge 2018/Men's singles

Men's singles
General information
Sport	Luge 2018
Date	10-11 February 2018
Competitors	40 athletes
Venue	Alpensia Sliding Centre
Previous medalists
Gold	Felix Loch
Silver	Albert Demchenko
Bronze	Armin Zoggeler
Conditions
Temperature	Day 1: -8°C / 17.6°F Day 2: -12°C / 10.4°F
Length	1344 metres
Medalists
	David Gleirscher
	Chris Mazdzer
	Johannes Ludwig

The men's singles of Luge 2018 during the 2018 Winter Olympics was held on 10-11 February 2018 in the Alpensia Sliding Centre. With 40 athletes competing, the event was won by David Gleirscher from Austria, with Chris Mazdzer from USA taking the silver medal and Johannes Ludwig from Germany taking bronze.

Format

The competition exists out of four runs over two consecutive days. The fastest 20 athletes after three runs are allowed to participate in the last (fourth) run. The competitor with the lowest aggregate time for all four runs is the winner.

Preview

Forty athletes qualified for the event, with Felix Loch (two consecutive Olympic gold medals), Semen Pavlichenko, Wolfgang Kindl and Roman Repilov as main favorites, as they won 11 of the 13 World Cup events in the season. The other two events were won by Kevin Fischnaller and Dominik Fischnaller, who were marked as possible medal contenders. The outsiders were Johannes Ludwig, as 5th best in the world, Kristers Aparjods, as Youth Olympic champion of 2016, Chris Mazdzer and Sam Edney.

The youngest competitor Reid Watts is one of eighteen lugers to make their Olympic debut, while the oldest competitor Jozef Ninis is only one of three lugers to have competed at least three times before, the other athletes being record-holding Shiva Keshavan, who was the first Indian luger to compete at the Olympic Games at Nagano 1998, and Sam Edney. Shiva Keshavan and Lien Te-an were chosen to carry the Indian flag and the flag of Chinese Taipei during the opening ceremony of Pyeongchang 2018, for the influence of the athlete in luge in the home country, and the consistency of qualifying for consecutive Olympic tournaments, respectively.

Current Records

Record	Date	Nat.	Name	Time
TR	19 February 2017		Dominik Fischnaller	48.607

Summary

Run 1

Austrian David Gleirscher was a surprising victor of the first run, gaining a 0.02 seconds advantage on Felix Loch. Gleirscher broke the track record by almost a second, with 25 other riders faster than the old track record. The start record was broken as well, with Tucker West shaving 0.005 seconds off the record he set at the Olympic test event a year before, but he only managed to finish 26th in the run. Number two in the world Wolfgang Kindl had a disappointing run, getting the 11th time, with over a 0.3 seconds difference behind Gleirscher. The highlight of the first run, however, was assigned to Ukrainian luger Andriy Mandziy, who fell from his sled early in the track, and managed to get back on his board within ten seconds, finishing his run.

Run 1 Results
Rank	Nat.	Name	Time
1		David Gleirscher	47.652
2		Felix Loch	47.674
3		Johannes Ludwig	47.764
4		Roman Repilov	47.776
5		Chris Mazdzer	47.800
6		Kristers Aparjods	47.822
7		Jozef Ninis	47.833
8		Kevin Fischnaller	47.853
9		Sam Edney	47.862
10		Dominik Fischnaller	47.930
11		Wolfgang Kindl	47.955
12		Reid Watts	47.960
13		Stepan Fedorov	48.035
14		Emanuel Rieder	48.040
15		Taylor Morris	48.072
16		Alex Ferlazzo	48.073
17		Mitchel Malyk	48.075
18		Andi Langenhan	48.083
19		Maciej Kurowski	48.103
20		Reinhard Egger	48.221
21		Inars Kivlenieks	48.274
22		Arturs Darznieks	48.305
23		Ondrej Hyman	48.324
24		Semen Pavlichenko	48.337
25		Adam Rosen	48.477
26		Tucker West	48.484
27		Anton Dukach	48.888
28		Valentin Cretu	49.030
29		Mateusz Sochowicz	49.047
30		Giorgi Sogoiani	49.300
31		Lim Nam-kyu	49.461
32		Andrei Turea	49.482
33		Rupert Staudinger	49.626
34		Tilen Sirse	49.887
35		Nikita Kopyrenko	50.147
36		Shiva Keshavan	50.578
37		Pavel Angelov	51.569
38		Jakub Simonak	51.724
39		Lien Te-an	52.121
40		Andriy Mandziy	1:02.935

Run 2

Hot favorite Felix Loch broke the track record as was set in the first run, leaving American Chris Mazdzer almost 0.1 seconds behind him. Roman Repilov had the third best time of the second run, climbing from fourth to third place after the first day, while Johannes Ludwig, who had the third time in the first run, dropped down to eighth place, after some mistakes during his second run. David Gleirscher only dropped down to second place, less than 0.2 seconds behind Loch.

Run 2 Results
Rank	Nat.	Name	Time
1		Felix Loch	47.625
2		Chris Mazdzer	47.717
3		Roman Repilov	47.740
4		Sam Edney	47.755
5		Kevin Fischnaller	47.793
6		Kristers Aparjods	47.834
7		David Gleirscher	47.835
8		Andi Langenhan	47.850
9		Wolfgang Kindl	47.858
10		Reid Watts	47.895
11		Reinhard Egger	47.903
12		Semen Pavlichenko	47.923
13		Stepan Fedorov	47.936
14		Johannes Ludwig	47.940
15		Tucker West	47.942
16		Dominik Fischnaller	47.967
17		Emanuel Rieder	48.047
18		Mitchel Malyk	48.050
19		Mateusz Sochowicz	48.203
20		Ondrej Hyman	48.276
21		Anton Dukach	48.307
22		Inars Kivlenieks	48.370
23		Adam Rosen	48.410
24		Maciej Kurowski	48.467
25		Andriy Mandziy	48.473
26		Andrei Turea	48.489
27		Alex Ferlazzo	48.587
28		Lim Nam-kyu	48.591
29		Arturs Darznieks	48.671
30		Jakub Simonak	48.690
31		Shiva Keshavan	48.710
32		Taylor Morris	48.793
33		Valentin Cretu	49.085
34		Giorgi Sogoiani	49.151
35		Rupert Staudinger	49.259
36		Pavel Angelov	49.449
37		Jozef Ninis	50.014
38		Nikita Kopyrenko	50.327
39		Lien Te-an	51.472
40		Tilen Sirse	58.776

Run 3

Chris Mazdzer was the third athlete to break the track record and climbed to second place in the rankings, after Felix Loch got the second fastest time. Loch assigned Dominik Fischnaller to third fastest time by only 0.002 seconds, although the latter managed to climb from eleventh place to seventh place in the standings. David Gleirscher dropped down to third place, with a good run, while Kevin Fischnaller climbed to fourth place, albeit with over 0.15 seconds difference.

Run 3 Results
Rank	Nat.	Name	Time
1		Chris Mazdzer	47.534
2		Felix Loch	47.560
3		Dominik Fischnaller	47.562
4		David Gleirscher	47.584
5		Kevin Fischnaller	47.596
6		Johannes Ludwig	47.625
7		Andi Langenhan	47.630
8		Semen Pavlichenko	47.716
9		Stepan Fedorov	47.755
10		Sam Edney	47.759
11		Reid Watts	47.787
12		Wolfgang Kindl	47.799
13		Kristers Aparjods	47.858
14		Taylor Morris	47.858
15		Roman Repilov	47.948
16		Mitchel Malyk	47.952
17		Reinhard Egger	47.963
18		Emanuel Rieder	47.972
19		Andriy Mandziy	47.981
20		Inars Kivlenieks	48.066
21		Jozef Ninis	48.095
22		Maciej Kurowski	48.158
23		Adam Rosen	48.280
24		Anton Dukach	48.303
25		Ondrej Hyman	48.313
26		Valentin Cretu	48.424
27		Jakub Simonak	48.522
28		Arturs Darznieks	48.602
29		Lim Nam-kyu	48.620
30		Shiva Keshavan	48.900
31		Mateusz Sochowicz	48.930
32		Rupert Staudinger	48.957
33		Giorgi Sogoiani	49.008
34		Nikita Kopyrenko	49.244
35		Andrei Turea	49.314
36		Alex Ferlazzo	49.531
37		Tucker West	49.593
38		Tilen Sirse	49.646
39		Pavel Angelov	50.094
40		Lien Te-an	50.545

Run 4

Dominik Fischnaller compensated partially for his slow start of the tournament, breaking the track record for the fourth time, with Austrian Wolfgang Kindl being the only other athlete to be faster than the old track record. Favorite Felix Loch made a mistake in his run, leaving the competition still open for medal contention, dropping down to fifth place, while Dominik Fischnaller took fourth. Fischnaller missed the bronze medal by only 0.002 seconds, with Johannes Ludwig getting the advantage, after getting the third fastest time of the run. The contest for gold would be between Chris Mazdzer and David Gleirscher, with Mazdzer having a 0.02 seconds advantage before the last run. Gleirscher managed to get the fourth fastest time of the last run, leaving Mazdzer with silver.

Run 4 Results
Rank	Nat.	Name	Time
1		Dominik Fischnaller	47.475
2		Wolfgang Kindl	47.521
3		Johannes Ludwig	47.603
4		David Gleirscher	47.631
5		Roman Repilov	47.644
6		Sam Edney	47.645
7		Chris Mazdzer	47.677
8		Kevin Fischnaller	47.812
9		Taylor Morris	47.824
10		Reinhard Egger	47.840
11		Reid Watts	47.848
12		Mitchel Malyk	47.869
13		Andi Langenhan	47.870
14		Stepan Fedorov	47.882
15		Semen Pavlichenko	47.883
16		Maciej Kurowski	47.885
17		Kristers Aparjods	47.942
18		Emanuel Rieder	48.082
19		Felix Loch	48.109
20		Inars Kivlenieks	48.112

Results

David Gleirscher earned the title at his debut at the Olympic Games. Chris Mazdzer, who won the silver medal in his third Olympic appearance, became the first non-European medalist in the men's singles. Bronze medalist Johannes Ludwig was also able to place himself on the podium at his Olympic debut, with Dominik Fischnaller two-thousands behind him. The winner of the two previous editions of the event, Felix Loch, finished "only" fifth.

Result	Athlete	Nationality	Time
	David Gleirscher	Austria	3:10.702
	Chris Mazdzer	United States	3:10.728
	Johannes Ludwig	Germany	3:10.932
4	Dominik Fischnaller	Italy	3:10.934
5	Felix Loch	Germany	3:10.968
6	Sam Edney	Canada	3:11.021
7	Kevin Fischnaller	Italy	3:11.054
8	Roman Repilov	Olympic Athletes from Russia	3:11.108
9	Wolfgang Kindl	Austria	3:11.133
10	Andi Langenhan	Germany	3:11.433
11	Kristers Aparjods	Latvia	3:11.456
12	Reid Watts	Canada	3:11.490
13	Stepan Fedorov	Olympic Athletes from Russia	3:11.608
14	Semen Pavlichenko	Olympic Athletes from Russia	3:11.859
15	Reinhard Egger	Austria	3:11.927
16	Mitchel Malyk	Canada	3:11.946
17	Emanuel Rieder	Italy	3:12.141
18	Taylor Morris	United States	3:12.547
19	Maciej Kurowski	Poland	3:12.613
20	Inars Kivlenieks	Latvia	3:12.822
21	Ondrej Hyman	Czech Republic	2:24.913
22	Adam Rosen	Great Britain	2:25.167
23	Anton Dukach	Ukraine	2:25.498
24	Arturs Darznieks	Latvia	2:25.578
25	Jozef Ninis	Slovakia	2:25.942
26	Tucker West	United States	2:26.019
27	Mateusz Sochowicz	Poland	2:26.180
28	Alex Ferlazzo	Australia	2:26.191
29	Valentin Cretu	Romania	2:26.539
30	Lim Nam-kyu	South Korea	2:26.672
31	Andrei Turea	Romania	2:27.285
32	Giorgi Sogoiani	Georgia	2:27.459
33	Rupert Staudinger	Great Britain	2:27.842
34	Shiva Keshavan	India	2:28.188
35	Jakub Simonak	Slovakia	2:28.936
36	Nikita Kopyrenko	Kazakhstan	2:29.718
37	Pavel Angelov	Bulgaria	2:31.112
38	Lien Te-An	Chinese Taipei	2:34.138
39	Tilen Sirse	Slovenia	2:38.308
40	Andriy Mandziy	Ukraine	2:39.389