Beijing Games 2022 - Amy Williams: Johannes Ludwig's 'absolutely perfect steers' earn him gold

Published 06/02/2022 at 19:09 GMT

Amy Williams, Great Britain's former skeleton competitor, described the key to success for Germany's Johannes Ludwig in the luge at Beijing 2022. The Olympian explained that the combination of his consistency as well as his excellence in negotiating the steers of a tough but 'fun' track earned him the gold medal. Watch every moment of Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 on discovery+

'He got absolute perfect steers' - Williams on Luge winner Ludwig

Former British skeleton Olympian Amy Williams praised Johannes Ludwig for his ‘absolutely perfect steers’ as he won luge gold at Beijing 2022.

The German luger put in some of the best runs of the day, and it was that consistency that Williams picked out as the heart of his win.

“He was amazing to watch and he really goes to show that consistency is key. He put down three of the four runs as the fastest athlete,” she said on Eurosport. “Just look at him, he’s in the perfect, beautiful long line position and really aerodynamic, and he really got absolutely perfect steers and we’re talking centimetres left and right can make all the difference.

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“I’m so happy for him, he’s been in the sport for over 16 years and that is really well deserved. Super happy to have that moment of that gold medal.”

There was also praise for Austrian Wolfgang Kindle, who took bronze.

“I am so over the moon for him, I was wanting to see if he would move up to gold,” she said.

“This is his fourth Olympics, three of which he has come ninth. And to finally nail it, you can see he was really enjoying the track, and got down some runs, one of which was the fastest as well. He kept his cool, he kept consistent, he was great.!

German Felix Loch had a disappointing showing when he was able to secure fourth place, and Williams said he seemed to find it hard to click with a difficult track.

“He is one of the most dedicated German slides, he has got multiple medals around his neck, and he didn’t just seem to click with the track. He just wasn’t able to pop down the runs and his positions were lower than you thought,” she said.

“It’s a really tough track, it’s fun but it’s tough. The big key for me is turn 13. If they get the right angle out of 13 they will be able to get through that very tricky chicane. It caught so many athletes out, that is where the race is won or lost.”

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Watch every moment of Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 on discovery+

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