SOCHI SCENE: Luge family
KRASNAYA POLYANA, Russia (AP) Armin Zoeggeler's storied Olympic luge career appears to be at an end. But his family may be represented on the sliding circuit for years to come.
The Italian star will be able to watch his niece compete in the Sochi Games after he's done with the men's competition. Sandra Robatscher is making her Olympic luge debut for Italy, the 18-year-old benefitting nicely from the experience and international acclaim that her uncle has collected over his two-plus decades in the sport.
''It's a great honor for me to be with him at the same games,'' Robatscher said. ''We got the chance to participate together at the last minute.''
Zoeggeler - a two-time Olympic champion, six-time world champion and 10-time overall World Cup champion - is expected to retire after these Olympics, and the 40-year-old says he intends to stay in the sport and help teach young sliders what he knows.
Apparently, he's already gotten started on that path.
''He is giving me lots of tips, but not only to me, also to my other teammates,'' Robatscher said. ''I am not privileged.''
If she's getting tips from one of the best to ever hop on a sled, yes, she in fact is very much privileged.
- Tim Reynolds - Twitter http://twitter.com/ByTimReynolds
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Associated Press reporters will be filing dispatches about happenings in and around Sochi during the 2014 Winter Games. Follow AP journalists covering the Olympics on Twitter: http://apne.ws/1c3WMiu
