Hamlin in huge in luge
Erin Hamlin won a bronze in women's luge to become the first American to win an Olympic singles medal in luge.
KRASNAYA POLYANA, Russia - Erin Hamlin expected an Olympic medal 4 years ago, and came up empty.
This time around, she expected nothing.
Lowering expectations, it turns out, raised her game.
"Who knew?" she said.
Hamlin won the bronze medal in women's luge yesterday, touching off a wild celebration among family and friends in the Russian mountains and a raucous party home in Remsen, N.Y. It's a place where hundreds of people - about half the town, it would appear - huddled around televisions streaming the online feed of her history making run down the track at the Sanki Sliding Center.
"This time, I was like, 'You know what? I won worlds before, I've had podium [finishes] and it would be amazing to get on, but if I have four solid runs - which until today I never had in the Olympics - I would be happy with it,' " Hamlin said.
"I just really wanted to enjoy the experience and really take it all in," Hamlin said. "I don't know if I'll be back again, so it's great to be able to do that. I really came in with no expectations."
Neither, it would be fair to say, did USA Luge. Four times in the past, USA Luge has sent a doubles teams to the Olympic podium. But no American had ever won an Olympic singles medal in the sport. Not until Hamlin delivered her bronze.
When Hamlin won the world title the big perk was getting an ice cream sundae named in her honor. It's still a big seller in Remsen, where she ran track and played soccer.
And the perks this time? Who knows. She's getting picked up by the U.S. Olympic Committee this morning for a media tour, and it'll last a good while.
"It's going to take a little while to sink in," Hamlin said. "I was the first American woman to win at worlds, so to be able to do this, I'm hopefully paving the way for future generations of female lugers in the U.S."
Germany's Natalie Geisenberger won the race in dominant style, posting a four-run time of 3 minutes, 19.768 seconds. Tatjana Huefner was second, 1.139 seconds off the pace. Hamlin was another 0.236 seconds back.