LUGE: The Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games saw an Australian male compete in Luge for the first time in 20 years. Townsville teenager Alex Ferlazzo put in a solid performance to finish the singles 33rd out of 39 athletes.

Up against much more experienced opponents, the 18-year-old remained competitive with a time of 3 minutes 34.044 seconds after his four runs, proving he has a big future in the sport. Ferlazzo showed promising signs, with both of his runs on the second day of competition faster than those on the first.
After an enjoyable debut Olympics, Ferlazzo already has his sights set on 2018.

“PyeongChang is the goal," he said after finishing his final run. "That's the long term goal. There are a lot of short term goals in between including getting a lot stronger, a bit heavier and a lot faster, having a lot better equipment and a lot more training.”

While more experience will hold him in good stead for Korea, Ferlazzo also knows hard work and a thorough preparation will be essential. 

“Lots of weights and time in the gym,” he said of what he's expecting in the coming years. “And lots of eating – I’m looking forward to that! Just getting a lot more experience is important. These guys start sliding when they are kids. It's time on the course that counts. Four years is a lot of time. I’m looking forward to it.”

The man Ferlazzo is chasing is Felix Loch. The German was clearly the best on both days at the Sanki Sliding Centre to successfully defend the gold medal he won in Vancouver. He finished with a time of 3:27.526, over six seconds ahead of Ferlazzo.

Despite being just 24 years of age Loch has already cemented himself as one of the greats. His second individual Olympic gold comes on the back of four World Championships. With many years left on the track it's likely both of those tallies will grow.

Albert Demchenko thrilled the Russian crowd to take the silver medal 0.476 seconds behind Loch, while Italy's Armin Zoeggeler took bronze.

The women's singles played out in a similar fashion to the men's, with a German dominating from start to finish. Natalie Geisenberger broke the track record on her first run and never looked back. She broke the 50 second barrier three times, the only woman to do so.

Geisenberger finished with a total time of 3:19.768, 1.139 seconds ahead of countrywoman Tatjana Huefner. American Erin Hamlin rounded out the top three.
In the doubles it was more of the same with Germany's pairing of Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt taking out the gold with a time of 1:38.933 from two runs. 

The Austrian team of Andreas and Wolfgang Linger was just over half a second behind while Latvia's Andris and Juris Sics took bronze.

Germany completed a historic clean sweep when Loch, Geisenberger, Wendl and Arlt combined to win the first ever Olympic Luge Relay. Their time of 2:45.649 seconds was more than a second too good for Russia in second and Latvia in third.