Olympics-Luge-Germans win team relay for fourth Games in a row

By Mitch Phillips

CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Germany maintained their iron grip on the Olympic luge team relay on Thursday, bouncing back in style from Wednesday's doubles disappointment to take gold for the fourth Games in a row since the event was introduced in 2014.

The high-octane event has a men's singles, a men's doubles, women's singles and a women's doubles team, racing back-to-back, and top seed Germany were clear winners ahead of Austria and Italy, who won both doubles golds.

That unexpected doubles setback had rocked the Germans, the dominant nation in Olympic luge, but they were back in control in the last of the sport's events in Cortina before skeleton and bobsleigh take centre stage.

Germany's team was made up of both Cortina singles champions - the serene Julia Taubitz and Max Langenhan, who set a track record in all four of his runs earlier this week.

Tobias Wendl and Tobias Artl, who had six team and doubles golds between them, managed only bronze in Wednesday's doubles, but were back on the top step on Thursday for incredible seventh gold.

Dajana Eitberger and Magdalena Matschina, who took silver in the doubles on Wednesday, completed the stellar lineup that came home half a second clear.

Germany, in the country's various guises, have now won 41 of the 56 golds available in the sport, including three out of five this week.

Austria's sliders had not enjoyed the week they wanted but Lisa Schulte, Thomas Steu and Wolfgang Kindl, Jonas Mueller and Selina Egle and Lara Kipp forced their way past Italy for a second successive silver.

On the back of their glorious double doubles golds on Wednesday, Italy went into the race full of confidence with every member of the team really experienced on their new home track.

Verena Hofer, fourth in the singles this week, and double Olympic bronze medallist Dominik Fischnaller were their singles racers with Wednesday's golden duos Emanuel Rieder and Simon Kainzwaldner and Andrea Voetter and Marion Oberhofer back on the ice, but they were edged out by Austria.

Latvia finished fourth, ahead of the United States, Ukraine and China.