PYEONGCHANG, South Korea (AP) — David Gleirscher struggled to make Austria's Olympic team. Chris Mazdzer's season hit rock-bottom less than a month ago.
Didn't matter.
They stood higher than anyone else atop the men's luge podium on Sunday as the reign of Germany's Felix Loch as Olympic champion came to a slippery, stunning and sudden end.
Gleirscher was the surprise first-run leader — and a bigger surprise as the leader when it was all over. He finished his four runs at the Alpensia Sliding Center in 3 minutes, 10.702 seconds for the gold, Austria's first in men's luge in 50 years.