Kraushaar Wants to Share Wealth

How close is close?

“I think we both deserve a gold medal,” Germany’s Silke Kraushaar said after edging countrywoman Barbara Niedernhuber by two-thousandths of a second to win the women’s luge on Wednesday.

That’s less than two inches after four heats and almost three miles of competition, the closest finish in Olympic luge history.

“You can hardly measure that sort of distance,” Kraushaar said. “For nerves, it’s harder to win by two-thousandths than to win by a tenth. Like any competitor you dream of winning a gold medal, but I didn’t think about it until it happened.”

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After finishing seventh in women’s luge, veteran U.S. sledder Cammy Myler, 29, said she was disappointed with her performance but not ready to say she is retiring.

“I’ve said I wouldn’t decide until the Games are over, but the Games haven’t been over long enough for me to decide,” she said. “I’m planning to start law school next fall, but Salt Lake [in 2002] is certainly tempting because it’s in the States.”