U.S. Lugers Closer To Title

Sun., Feb. 2, 1997

Compiled From Wire Services

While German doubles racers Stefan Krausse and Jan Behrendt and singles teammate Sylke Otto claimed gold medals in a World Cup luge meet, the United States secured its 11th medal of the campaign as the doubles sled of Christian Niccum and Matt McClain won bronze.

World Cup doubles leaders Chris Thorpe of Marquette, Mich., and Gordy Sheer of Croton, N.Y., fourth for the third straight week including the world championships, moved closer to the overall title with one event remaining.

Krausse and Behrendt, triple Olympic medalists, came from behind to win the tightest race of the season. They defeated two-time world champions Tobias and Markus Schiegl of Austria by a scant two-thousandths of a second over the two legs.

Niccum, of Woodinville, Wash., and McClain, of Lake Placid, N.Y., could not convert their first-run lead and settled for third in 1:21.283.

Otto, meanwhile, wasn’t a member of Germany’s World Cup team at the start of the year, but was given a reprieve after finishing fourth in the world championships.

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U.S. Lugers Closer To Title

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