Grotheer gives Germany another Olympic sliding gold medal

By TIM REYNOLDS
AP Sports Writer

BEIJING (AP) — Germany has its first Olympic skeleton champion, and the country is simply sliding away from all challengers so far at the Beijing Olympics. Christopher Grotheer was a runaway winner in the men’s skeleton event that ended Friday night, the first German to win gold in the discipline where sliders navigate the icy chute headfirst at speeds that can exceed 80 mph. Germany also got the silver and China got its first-ever Olympic sliding medal by winning bronze. There have been five gold medals handed out so far in sliding events at these Beijing Games, all five of them won by Germans