Sochi (pps) The rest of the world had to wait 50 years for this to happen as the medals in the women’s singles at the past 14 Olympic Winter Games were exclusively claimed by European lugers. But then U.S. athlete Erin Hamlin wrote a chapter of luge history at the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia. As the first ever U.S. luger – and thus the first non-European slider – the 27-year-old earned the bronze medal in the women’s singles.

“They are great athletes,” Hamlin said at the official press conference, referring to Germany’s Natalie Geisenberger, who completed her title collection with the gold medal, and to silver medal winner Tatjana Huefner, who now has a complete set of Olympic medals after gold in 2010 and bronze in 2006. By the way – it was the first time in the history of Olympic luge events that all lugers on the podium had already claimed at least one World Championship title.

Hamlin won the World Championship gold medal five years ago on her home track in Lake Placid. She was the first female U.S. luger to have claimed this title. “Well, you cannot compare the title at the Worlds with today’s bronze medal,” Hamlin explained. “I took the World Championship gold back home, I was surrounded by family and friends. But to claim a medal at Olympic Games – that’s what all athletes really dream of.”

Hamlin would have liked to make this dream come true already four years ago. “Prior to the 2010 Games in Vancouver I had my best ever season,” Hamlin recalls. Taking a fourth place on the overall World Cup ranking she was among the top favorites for a medal. Eventually, however, she had to make do with a 16th place finish at the Games. This season she earned a sixth place in the overall World Cup rankings and experts believed her to be among the candidates for a podium finish. “That way was much better, there’s no doubt about it,” Hamlin is happy about her bronze medal.

Together with teammate Kate Hansen, the new Olympic bronze medalist had produced a successful Christmas video (“All I Want for Christmas is You”). But after more than 25,000 views on YouTube, the video was blocked due to copyright reasons. However, Hamlin fans can be looking forward to a new video: “Right now we’re working on another one,” she said. A video produced by and featuring the first female non-European medal winner in an Olympic luge event…