LAUSANNE, January 17. /TASS/. The team of Russian national athletes has maintained the top position in the overall medal standings after Day 8 of the 2020 Winter Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in Switzerland winning two bronze medals on Friday in Luge competitions.

Russia’s Diana Loginova raced to win the bronze in Luge Girls’ Singles event clocking the distance with an aggregate result of 1 minute 49.966 seconds. The gold and silver went to German lugers Merle Frabel and Jessica Degenhardt respectively.

The crew of Russia’s Mikhail Karnaukhov and Yury Chirva won another bronze on Friday in Luge Boys’ Doubles event with an aggregate result of 1 minute 50.325 seconds. Germany’s Moritz Jager and Valentin Steudte won the gold and Latvia’s Kaspars Rinks and Ardis Liepins took the silver.

Russian athletes top the overall standings of the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics with 19 medals (five gold, eight silver and six bronze). Russia is followed by hosts Switzerland (five gold, five silver and three bronze) and Japan (four gold, two silver and one bronze) in 2nd and 3rd places respectively.

The 2020 Winter Youth Olympic Games are hosted by Switzerland’s Lausanne on January 9-22 and are attended by almost 1,900 athletes of age between 14 and 18 representing 79 countries.

A total of 81 sets of medals in 16 disciplines are up for grabs in Switzerland this month as contested in such competitions as: Alpine Skiing, Biathlon, Bobsleigh, Cross-Country Skiing, Curling, Figure Skating, Freestyle Skiing, Ice Hockey, Luge, Nordic Combined, Short Track Speed Skating, Skeleton, Ski Jumping, Ski Mountaineering, Snowboarding, Speed Skating.

The Youth Olympics are organized every four years, with the Summer Games held since 2010, and the Winter Games — since 2012. The Youth Olympics were preceded by the World Youth Games held under the IOC auspices since 1998. The first World Youth Games were hosted by the Russian capital of Moscow in 1998.