Germans prepare for Luge

Favourite Tatjana Huefner (pictured) led after two runs with Natalie Geisenberger in third place and Anke Wischnewski fifth but it was not all smooth sliding as the altered start position caused problems for the world's top lugers.

The German trio coped best with a track shortened to 953 metres following Friday's fatal accident but it was not pretty at the start where a short slide into the first corner caused mayhem.

With Tuesday's third and fourth runs still to come Huefner has eked out a miniscule 0.05-second advantage over first-run leader Nina Reithmayer of Austria and Russia's Tatiana Ivanova was also in the mix in fourth place.

"I was not satisfied with my first run," said Turin bronze medallist Huefner, who won five of the season's eight World Cup events, against a soundtrack of car horns and cow bells on a crisp night at the Whistler Sliding Centre.

"The second run I did better at the start which is very important here. The first curve is the key."

Asked whether there was anybody who could prevent a third consecutive German one-two-three in the Olympic luge she said: "I don't know...I hope not."

Geisenberger, who on the eve of the race said the organisers' decision to start the women from the junior push-off had turned the competition into a 'kids race' was ragged in her first run but shaved off time in her second.

"You make the best of it. It was a good first day. You have to have the sled in the right position or you'll end up hitting the wall."

Canadian hopes did hit the wall and pre-Games medal prospect Alex Gough was left fuming after ending 22nd.

"Honestly, we sent 13-year-old girls through this start," she said, barely containing her anger. "It's like running into a brick wall."

International Luge Federation chiefs decided to lower the starts for all the luge events after the death of Georgia's Nodar Kumaritashvili who flew off his sled and was catapulted into a steel pillar next to the exit of the final turn.

Meanwhile, Aya Yasuda of Japan was disqualified from the women's luge on Monday for being overweight - but she does not need to go on a diet.

Yasuda, who weighs 60kg, miscalculated the extra ballast permitted and carried 13.3kg instead of 13.1kg, thereby failing the compulsory weigh-in after her first run.