Olympics-Luge-Taubitz takes gold for Germany after Fraebel blunder

By Mitch Phillips

CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Germany's Julia Taubitz won an emphatic Olympic gold in the women's luge singles on Tuesday, roaring home with tears in her eyes after compatriot Merle Fraebel had a terrible third run to drop out of contention having started the day a fraction adrift.

Elina Bota finished second to become the first Latvian woman to claim an individual medal in any Winter Olympic sport, 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.

"It was a dream from when I was a child and now the dream comes true and I'm so happy and thankful about it," Taubitz said. "I think I cried a lot before the last corner because I know, 'okay, the run was good, it must be possible'.

"I enjoyed every run. For the last run I was a little bit nervous, but I said to myself, ‘hey, enjoy this run, have fun’, and I did."

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 on Tuesday and though it was slightly slower, that conservative approach paid immediate dividends when 22-year-old Fraebel 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.

"I knew that I could only do what I could. I try not to worry about everyone else. I cannot control what they do," said Farquharson, who was fifth after the first two runs.

"The focus is very much trying to be very clean, trying to be very smooth and enjoying the moment. And it worked. I feel very lucky and it’s paid off.

"When I came through the outrun and I saw the one (on the timing board) I knew I was guaranteed a medal. It seriously felt like I was dreaming. It did not feel real."

VICTORY SWEET FOR TAUBITZ

The victory will be particularly sweet for Taubitz, 29, who has a painful relationship with the Olympics.

The owner of eight gold and seven silvers across various world championship events and a five-times overall World Cup winner, she missed out on selection for the 2018 Games as she was the fourth-best German in the rankings, and the three who went ahead of her finished first, second and fourth.

Four years ago she made it to Beijing and set a track record with her opening run. But a horrendous crash on the final curve of her second left her sliding over the finish line on her back.

She clocked a track record on her final run to finish seventh, as compatriots Natalie Geisenberger and Anna Berreiter took gold and silver.

It was almost a mirror image of what happened to Fraebel on Tuesday, as she recovered from her third-round shocker to post a second-fastest 52.779 that lifted her to eighth.

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.