Queen Otto reigns

The dominant German women, who had confiscated the podium four years ago in Salt Lake City, did it again with a commanding team effort in the two-day singles competition.

The 36-year-old Otto jealously defended her crown to become the second woman to retain an Olympic luge title after East German Steffi Walter-Martin in 1988.

Silke Kraushaar, the Olympic champion from 1998, settled for silver while newcomer Tatjana Huefner completed Germany's

expected triumph with the bronze.

Otto, who had posted the fastest time in each of the first three runs, worried her fans with just the third-best time in the last but that proved enough for a combined winning time of three minutes 07.979 seconds.

Kraushaar, who had undermined her chances by struggling in her opening run on Monday, finished a slim 0.136 second back while Huefner showed her class by clocking the fastest time in the last run to secure third place, 0.481 second off the pace.

American Courtney Zablocki, who had suggested on Monday that she might deny Germany at least the lower magic step, had to be content with fourth place, 0.873 second behind Otto.

The controversial Cesana track claimed another victim, Canada's Meaghan Simister leaving it in an ambulance after crashing in Tuesday's penultimate run.

Simister, who fell off coming out of a curve on the treacherous bottom section of the course, appeared alert and conscious when she was taken away on a stretcher. No immediate word on her condition was available.

Austria's Sonja Manzenreiter, who was fifth after Monday's first two runs, also crashed in the first of Tuesday's final two runs. She did not appear to have sustained any injury.

Three competitors, American Samantha Retrosi, Anastasia Oberstolz-Antonova of Italy and Czech Marketa Jeriova, had crashed during Monday's opening two runs.

Retrosi was discharged from hospital on Tuesday after a scan showed nothing serious. Oberstolz-Antonova and Jeriova sustained only minor injuries.