Park City (pps) At the moment, Natalie Geisenberger of Germany is clearly the most dominating slider in the women’s singles and she hopes to put the “icing on the cake” by claiming a podium’s top spot at the upcoming Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. The declared goal of the 25-year-old: a gold medal. The most successful female luger of the pre-Olympic season, who claimed a gold medal at the World and European Championships as well as the overall Viessmann Luge World Cup title, is still unbeaten in the current Olympic season. Four races, four victories and, last weekend in Whistler, Geisenberger claimed the 20th individual victory of her career.

“They all tell me I’m the top favorite at the Olympic Games. They all expect me to win the gold medal,” said Geisenberger in Whistler. “Well, there is pressure and I have to deal with it.” A week ago in Winterberg, it was quite different: “Even though everybody is now calling me the absolute top favorite in Russia, I won’t put pressure on myself,” she said.

It will probably be the toughest fight that Geisenberger will have to confront in the upcoming weeks: to withstand the great expectations, her own and those from the outside. However, she can rely on some stabilizing factors such as her athletic build, which plays such an important role at the start. Or her equipment, perfectly tuned by her “service technician” Georg Hackl, a three-time Olympic Champion himself. Last but not least there is her undisputed “sliding instinct”. Additionally, every single success is a boost to her self-confidence. As Geisenberger remarked in Whistler: “Everything worked out just perfect today. My sled is good, my start was good, the racing line nearly perfect. This is how you can win World Cup races.” And races at Olympic Winter Games…