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Why Germans are sliding clear from rest of world

“Our national championships are equivalent to a world championships,” Otto, who retired in 2007 after winning two Olympic golds and six world championships, told Reuters.

“When you have so many athletes at a high level pushing each other that is why we perform so well at the big moments.”

Huefner’s gold and Natalie Geisenberger’s bronze on Tuesday means German women have won 10 out of the last 12 Olympic medals on offer in women’s luge while 20-year-old Felix Loch looks set to dominate the men’s after his victory on Sunday.

Last year’s shock victory by American Erin Hamlin at the world championships snapped an incredible run of 99 victories for German women but normal service was resumed at Whistler.

The reasons for the domination are numerous.

Visit any one Germany’s four international standard luge tracks during the winter months and you will see a conveyor belt of mini Huefner’s and Loch’s sliding down at high speed.

“The reason we are so good is that in Germany we have four tracks (in Winterberg, Altenberg, Koenigssee and Oberhof),” Geisenberger, a police officer, said. “Other countries have maybe one or none at all.”

HUGE ADVANTAGE

For German children growing up in the heartland of the sport in Bavaria, luge is as natural as walking.

The sheer numbers taking part are a huge advantage while the budget available for coaching and sled technology is huge compared to other Alpine countries which have one track at best.

“There is a big fight to get in the team,” Thomas Schwab, who as Germany’s luge coach between 1994 and 2008 won well over 100 medals in major championships, told Reuters.

“It’s harder to actually get a World Cup place than to get a World Cup medal.

“The system is very established,” added Schwab, who is now the team’s sporting director. “Kids start at eight and we have partnerships with schools. We identify good athletes and then link them to regional training centres.

“This way we always have a lot of talent coming through.”

Many of the top athletes, such as Huefner, are soldiers and police officers and are given time off to train — a far cry from Britain’s only luger AJ Rosen who had to borrow a sled and work in a used-car showroom to finance his sport.

Throw in Formula One-style technology in sledge building and wind-tunnel testing and Germany look ready to call the shots in luge for years to come.

“We have the best sledge builders in the world for luge and bobsleigh and we work together with the athletes and coaches to stay ahead,” said Schwab.

Otto said other countries would struggle to catch up unless they adopted the same German approach.

“Other nations can’t make a mistake by employing a German coach,” she said. “They are getting a bit close but Germany is still way out ahead.”