Germany leads in women’s Olympic bobsled, USA in 3rd

By TIM REYNOLDS
AP Sports Writer

BEIJING (AP) — The Germans remain right at home on China’s Olympic sliding track. Winners of gold medals in seven of the eight sliding events so far at the Beijing Games, Germany has put itself in prime position to add more hardware to its record-setting total. It holds down the top two spots at the midway point of the women’s bobsled competition. Laura Nolte and Deborah Levi have a commanding half-second lead after two runs. Defending Olympic champion Mariama Jamanka and Alexandra Burghardt are second. And the U.S. is third, with four-time medalist Elana Meyers Taylor and brakeman Sylvia Hoffman in a medal spot going into Saturday’s final heats.