Sochi update: Hamlin nails luge runs, biathletes struggle

A great day for Remsen luger Erin Hamlin, but another struggle for North Country biathlon racers. Here’s a video update:

In a nutshell…

Biathlete Tim Burke from Paul Smiths got bottled up in the pack on Sochi’s nordic track and finished in 22nd position. His final time was 1 minute and 48 seconds behind the leader, Martin Fourcade of France.Burke was the top American in the 12.5k sprint.

Coming in second for the US was Lowell Bailey from Lake Placid, who was 38th overall, with a time 2 minutes and 46 seconds behind the leader. Bailey had three shooting errors to Burke’s two penalties.

Both North Country athletes have their next shot on the snow on Thursday in the men’s individual 20k race.

In the women’s luge competition in Sochi today, Remsen luge racer Erin Hamlin broke open two amazing sled runs. She finished the first two runs of the four-run competition with a total time of 1:40.632. She finished the first run in second place, the second run in third place. That means she’s on track to reach the podium, possibly even snagging gold or silver, if she can maintain the pace tomorrow.

Racers will take two more runs each tomorrow evening in Sochi to sort out gold, silver and bronze positions. Currently, Hamlin’s big competition is coming from two German sliders, Natalie Geisenberger, and Tatjana Huefner. She’ll have to make up .8 seconds to take the gold medal.

Find all of NCPR’s reporting on the North Country in Sochi here, and find even more on Twitter at #NCPROlympics.

 

Tags: olympics14