Langenhan, Mueller, Fischnaller lead way after 1st 2 runs of Olympic men's luge race

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CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) — The race for the medals in men's singles luge might already be down to three sliders.

Germany’s Max Langenhan finished his two runs in 1 minute, 45.826 seconds on Saturday, making him the leader going into the final two runs on Sunday. All four runs count in the event, with the fastest combined time winning gold.

Jonas Mueller of Austria was second in 1:45.988 and Italy’s Dominik Fischnaller is third going into Sunday after his two-run time was clocked at 1:46.124.

Nobody else is within a half-second of Langenhan’s lead. Latvia’s Kristers Aparjods is fourth, 0.508 seconds off the pace, and Italy’s Leon Felderer is fifth — 0.765 seconds back.

Langenhan and Mueller are bidding for what would be their first Olympic medals; Langenhan was sixth at the Beijing Games four years ago and Mueller is making his debut in the games. Fischnaller was third at Beijing 2022.

It was a disappointing start for a pair of favorites. World Cup current overall leader Felix Loch of Germany, a two-time Olympic men's singles champion after prevailing in 2010 and 2014, is only eighth going into Sunday — one spot behind Austria's Wolfgang Kindl, the reigning Olympic silver medalist and the only slider out of 105 luge Olympians this year who is qualified to race in both the men's singles and the men's doubles events.

For the Americans, Jonny Gustafson is 11th and Matthew Greiner is 17th going into Sunday.

History says Langenhan, Mueller and Fischnaller are in the driver's seats now. In the previous 16 Olympic men’s luge competitions, the eventual gold medalist has been no worse than third after the first two heats.

And in 10 of those 16 races, the 1-2-3 order after two runs became the exact 1-2-3 order on the medal stand as well.

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AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics