Julia Taubitz takes gold for Germany in women's luge after Merle Fraebel blunder

Julia Taubitz of Germany celebrates her victory
Julia Taubitz of Germany celebrates her victoryREUTERS / Athit Perawongmetha

Germany's Julia Taubitz ​won an emphatic Olympic ‌gold in ‌the women's luge singles on Tuesday, cruising ⁠home on ‌her fourth run after ​compatriot Merle Fraebel had a terrible third to drop ‌out of contention having started the ⁠day a fraction adrift.

Elina Bota finished second to claim a first-ever woman's skeleton medal for Latvia, with ⁠Ashley Farquharson ‌getting the bronze for the United States.

Taubitz won by nearly a second - a huge ⁠margin in a sport where positions can be decided by ‌thousandths - and continues her country's domination of an event ​they have now won 13 times out of 17, including the last eight in a row.

In Monday's opening runs Taubitz and Fraebel chalked up three track records between them, with Taubitz carrying a narrow ‌lead, and it looked to be a shoot-out between them for gold.

Taubitz was first out again in Tuesday’s third run and though it was slightly ⁠slower, that conservative approach paid immediate dividends when 22-year-old Fraebel followed her out and incredibly bounced off both walls at the start and trundled home as the 20th of 25 athletes, almost a second and a half behind and totally out of contention.

After that it was a battle for the minor medals, with Bota and Farquharson edging Italian duo Verena Hofer and Sandra Robatscher, before ⁠Taubitz finished things off with the fastest time, ‌for the third time in four runs.

Taubitz’s win follows that of compatriot Max Langenhan, who took gold in the men's singles on Sunday, and Germany will expect more gold in ⁠the two doubles events and the mixed ​relay.

Keep track of the full medal table on our dedicated Winter Olympics page!

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