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| Event type

Singles, Women

Date4 – 7 February 1972
StatusOlympic
LocationMount Teine Luge Course, Mount Teine
Participants22 from 8 countries
FormatFour runs, total time determined placement.
DetailsCurves: 11
Length: 763 m
Start Altitude: 420 m
Vertical Drop: 78 m

As in the men’s event, the East German medal sweep was not expected beforehand. The East Germans had not won medals at the last two World Championships, although they had done better at the European Championships, with Anna-Maria Müller winning in 1970 and Ute Rührold in 1972. These two lugers, both from SC Traktor Oberwiesenthal, would compete for the gold in Sapporo, together with a third East German, Margit Schumann. Competition started with a tie in the first run between Schumann and Rührold, but Müller grabbed the lead with a strong second descent. Schumann won the third run, leaving her 0.12 seconds between the three (Müller ahead of Rührold and Schumann) at three-quarters of the competition. Müller, who had missed a silver medal in 1968 because of a disqualification, did not give away her position and won the final run. Müller might have won more international medals if she would have competed on Sundays, but a strict Catholic, she always refused this.

PosCompetitorNOCTimeRun #1Run #2Run #3Run #4
1Anna-Maria MüllerGDR2:59.1845.00 (3)45.00 (1)44.86 (3)44.32 (1)Gold
2Ute RühroldGDR2:59.4944.95 (=1)45.23 (2)44.76 (2)44.55 (2)Silver
3Margit SchumannGDR2:59.5444.95 (=1)45.38 (3)44.65 (1)44.56 (3)Bronze
4Elisabeth DemleitnerFRG3:00.8045.45 (5)45.62 (4)45.08 (4)44.65 (4)
5Yuko OtakaJPN3:00.9845.21 (4)45.65 (5)45.39 (5)44.73 (5)
=6Wiesława MartykaPOL3:02.3345.68 (7)46.12 (9)45.47 (6)45.06 (7)
=6Halina KanaszPOL3:02.3345.66 (6)45.98 (7)45.52 (7)45.17 (9)
8Sarah FelderITA3:02.9045.90 (8)45.93 (6)45.99 (=12)45.08 (8)
9Barbara PiechaPOL3:03.0745.96 (9)46.24 (10)45.89 (=8)44.98 (6)
10Christa SchmuckFRG3:03.1945.98 (10)46.01 (8)45.99 (=12)45.21 (10)
11Angelika SchaffererAUT3:04.0646.00 (11)46.41 (=13)45.94 (10)45.71 (14)
12Nina ShashkovaURS3:04.3846.18 (13)46.38 (12)46.36 (16)45.46 (11)
13Hiroko ShibuyaJPN3:04.4546.66 (14)46.41 (=13)45.89 (=8)45.49 (=12)
14Antonia MayrAUT3:04.6046.15 (12)46.36 (11)45.97 (11)46.12 (17)
15Kathleen Ann HomstadUSA3:05.9847.68 (19)46.64 (15)46.17 (14)45.49 (=12)
16Margit GrafAUT3:06.2946.89 (16)46.92 (18)46.25 (15)46.23 (19)
17Nina IgnatyevaURS3:06.4546.82 (15)46.84 (17)46.70 (17)46.09 (16)
18Gisela OttoFRG3:06.5447.04 (17)46.78 (16)46.73 (19)45.99 (15)
19Miyako KawaseJPN3:08.1047.93 (20)47.31 (19)46.72 (18)46.14 (18)
20Nataliya OmshevaURS3:08.2747.18 (18)47.39 (20)46.85 (20)46.85 (20)
DNFPeggy FrairUSA– (DNF)
DNFErika LechnerITA48.76 (21)49.39 (21)50.51 (21)– (DNF)
DNSIda HopkinsUSA– (DNS)