“We knew we made a big mistake during the first run and we knew what we had to do to fix it,” remarked Martin.  He and Grimmette raced to a two-run time of one minute, 19.500 seconds.  “In between runs, we concentrated on that, having a good start again, and getting the sled down the hill as fast as we can.”

Despite sliding to a second heat time of 39.694 seconds, Martin said that he never felt comfortable in the leader’s box, watching the other sleds trying to catch them.  “I knew that Mark and I had a fast run, but you’re never really sure how fast it is, or if it’ll stand up,” stated Martin.  “You’re just sitting on pins and needles, just waiting to see what the times will be for the other sleds… but there’s nothing you can really do at that point.”

“This was an important medal for us,” said Grimmette.  “This feels great, we’ve been off the podium for a while and it feels good just to be back on it.”

Germany’s Patric Leitner and Alexander Resch won Sunday’s race in a two-run time of 1:19.285.  “So many people came from home to watch us race, it’s unbelievable to win in front of them,” said Resch of he and Leitner’s record-setting, fourth-career world championship title.  “Our fans really pushed us, we had two great runs, and the feeling right now is unbelievable.”

With thousands of bell-ringing, flag-waving and horn-blowing Austrian countrymen in the crowd, Tobias Schiegl and Markus Schiegl made sure no one left the 1976 Olympic luge track disappointed.  The two grabbed the silver medal and a two-heat time of 1:19.401.  “This is unbelievable winning a medal in front of so many people,” said Tobias Schiegl.  “We certainly wanted to win gold for everyone here, but I’m very pleased with the silver.”

USA Luge’s Preston Griffall (Salt Lake City, Utah) and Dan Joye (Carmel, N.Y.) scored a 17th place finish.  The two clocked a one run time of 40.383. Only the top 15 sleds, from the 26 team field, advanced to the race’s second heat.