Germany's luge stars looking to climb Mount Olympus after Beijing Winter Olympics

BERLIN, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- With the team event ahead Thursday at the 2022 Beijing Games there seem no limits for Germany's luge athletes.

Five singles medals, three gold, and two silver are consolidating the country's reputation as the world's number one in the speed sport.

Germany's luge dominance doesn't come as a surprise as 37 gold, 26 silver and 23 bronze Olympic medals, won since 1964, might tell the story. Not to speak of 118 World Championship titles.

Over the years, technical progress, growing expertise, and a competitive team atmosphere have led to the leading position.

At Beijing 2022, the German luge team continues to ride the wave and is strengthening its position as the country's most successful winter sports ahead of speed-skating, biathlon and bob.

Tobias Arlt and Tobias Wendl snatched their 3rd consecutive doubles gold after 2014 and 2018.

The success followed the medal contributions of Johannes Ludwig (men's singles), Natalie Geisenberger, Anna Berreiter (women's singles), and Sascha Benecken/Toni Eggert (men's doubles silver).

Understandable that the successful Germans' enthusiasm knew no boundaries.

"We will climb Mount Olympos in Greece together by foot. Then we are on the top spot too," Benecken announced accompanied by the loud laughter of his luge partner Eggert.

Mount Olympus is said to be the residence of the Olympic gods.

While German athletes foster their team's internal sportive rivalry, by all means, they don't forget about a healthy team spirit.

Several athletes such as Geisenberger went to the National Sliding Center to cheer the double athletes only a day after her victory.

"These two guys grabbed our gold right from the finish line," Sascha Benecken joked but quickly added, "they deserve it. But we might turn things around next time."

This Thursday, Geisenberger and the doubles athletes Arlt and Wendl could win their sixth gold medal in the team event and set a new winter Olympic record.

German athletes in the past developed advanced manual skills and spend hours after hours preparing their equipment for the competition on their own.

German luge icon Georg Hackl learned to be a locksmith "to be able to improve my sled in my carport."

Today the athletes mainly count on high-tech sleds assembled by advanced mechanics fitting together the most robust and most light material available.

But some have preserved their particular pioneering spirit. Silver winners Benecken and Eggert insist on building their luge on their own. "We spend more hours together than we do with our wives," they said.