Salt Lake City. As for the results of the Olympic luge competitions in women’s singles there will be only one question: Will the winner be spelled with an “i” or with a “y”? For four years since the 1987/1988 season, Silke Kraushaar, Nagano Olympic Champion, silver meallist at the 2001 World Championships and overall World Cup champion in 2001 and 2002, and Sylke Otto, two-time World Champion as well as 2000 and 2002 European Champion, have been dominating the World Cup scene so powerfully that only one of the two is considered a possible gold medallist in Salt Lake City.

Only 6 out of the past 35 World Cup races were won by another woman but these two. During these races, Silke Kraushaar celebrated 16 out of her altogether 19 World Cup victories, while Sylke Otto realized 13 of her 21 World Cup successes. The German luge women have been unbeaten for 33 World Cup races now; if one adds Olympic Winter Games, World- and European Championships, Challenge Cups and the Two-Track European Chamionships, the number rises to an impressive 56 German victories.

„I would not have any objections to another Olympic victory, but I would be delighted to win any Olympic medal“, says Silke Kraushaar, who clocked her winning time in the 1998 Nagano Olympics only two thousandths of a second ahead of teammate Barbara Niedernhuber. „I would be glad to win any Olympic medal, no matter which color“, affirms Sylke Otto. The score of the duel of the two, who often share the same hotel room at the World Cup events, currently is 4:3 for Kraushaar. At the European Championships in Altenberg, Otto won the title clearly ahead of her permanent rival.

As in the previous year at the World Championships in Calgary (Canada), third rank seems to be reserved for Barbara Niedernhuber. And last but not least the US girls with Becky Wilczak at the top are hoping for medal ranks just as Austria‘s women with their top athlete Angelika Neuner do, who won silver in 1992 and bronze in 1998. If you are looking for surprises watch out for Anna Orlova (Latvia), silver medallist at the Sigulda Viessmann World Cup as well as her teammate Iluta Gaile.