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“Having a gold medal around your neck for the USA is the coolest thing ever!”


Team USA (from left: Pat Edmunds, Ty Andersen, Tucker West and Summer Britcher) take gold at the Youth Olympic Games relay. Photo: Fred Zimny

For the first time in its history, USA Luge has captured a gold medal at an "Olympic" event.

The quartet of Summer Britcher in women’s singles, Tucker West in men’s singles, and Ty Andersen and Pat Edmunds in doubles had the runs of their lives Tuesday down the Olympia track outside Innsbruck, Austria in the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) team relay.

The victory, which closed the luge races at the YOG, gave the United States the most coveted medal in the sport.

"There’s a lot of pressure in a team race," said Britcher, the Junior World Cup youth division overall champion last winter. "Your teammates are depending on you to do well and so you want to do well more so than in a singles race.

"It was a great run. Good coaching and good training did it. This was the best run I had all week."

Each posted the best time in their individual disciplines: Britcher 44.658 seconds; West 46.686 and Andersen with Edmunds 46.966 for a team relay total of 2 minutes, 18.310 seconds.

"The track was great," said the 6-foot-1 inch Edmunds, 17, of Park City, Utah. "It was smooth....fast. Our run was amazing. Ty was relaxed. He was good. It was a great run altogether."

The Americans were 0.4 of a second ahead of silver medalist Germany, with Austria collecting the bronze.

"My run was awesome. It was the best one I’ve had all week," said the 16 year old West, of Ridgefield, Conn., and a student at Lake Placid’s National Sports Academy (NSA). "It seemed like everyone had a perfect run. It all came together at the right time and we’re so happy. It feels great to win not only for ourselves, but for our country."

Britcher, also 16, added, "It’s been amazing to be here at the Youth Olympic Games. It’s definitely been one of the best experiences of my life so far." The Glen Rock, Pa. athlete also attends NSA.

As good as they performed three powerhouses were on deck after the U.S. foursome completed their runs. Germany, Russia and Latvia each got their opportunities but fell short. Russia was fourth; Latvia sixth.

The German team, comprised of medal winners from the two previous days, was timed in 2:18.708. Austria was the bronze medalist in 2:18.863.

"We were just going for it," said Edmunds, 17. "We were gonna do our best. We didn’t know how it would turn out. We told each other we’d just go out there and do the best we could.

"We didn’t know how good Summer and Tucker did (ahead of us). We’d never been in a team relay race before so we hadn’t seen those kinds of times. We didn’t understand how well they had done."

Race day turned a bit milder, enabling the competitors to get additional grip on the ice. Yet the Igls track was in pristine condition for the YOG luge finale, and the U.S. contingent gave a virtuoso performance at the site of the first Olympic luge events in 1964.

"I could not tell by the times where we stood," said the 6-foot-7 inch Andersen, from Alpine, Utah. But I knew that Summer and Tucker would put it out there for us. Our run was nearly flawless. I loved it. I was a lot more relaxed and the lines (through the course) worked out great.

Andersen, the 17 year old front driver, and Edmunds, the back driver, had taken a YOG bronze medal 24 hours earlier in the doubles race, insinuating that it could have been better.

"The only thing we talked about after the (doubles) race was to keep it together," continued Andersen. "We knew we had it in us, and not let it get to our heads. We wanted to stay cool and relaxed."

The group was led by U.S. Development Coach Pat Anderson, a former competitor from Ironwood, Mich., now based in Lake Placid. He played as much of a role in their mental outlook as he did with their on-track preparation.


From left, Coach Pat Anderson, Pat Edmunds, Tucker West, Ty Andersen and Summer Britcher in the back of the transport truck at the luge track in Igls, Austria. Photo: West family

"I spoke with Tucker about having some unfinished business," said Anderson when the team had returned from the awards ceremony in Innsbruck. "When we got to the track (on the first race day) it was impressive to see all the cameras and photographers. Summer said she was glad that the women were not racing first so she could see what the event was like. But when they came out today, they were not in shock."

Meanwhile, office staff in Lake Placid tried to keep tabs on the long distance developments via cell phone and other electronic devices during the morning. By 8:45 ET, the news was official.

"The YOG has been a memorable event for our organization," said USA Luge CEO and Executive Director Ron Rossi. "With two medals, including gold, we could not be prouder of the efforts put forth by our athletes and the coaching staff. To be able to perform at a high level at such a major event speaks volumes for our team. The Junior World Cup and Junior World Championships are outstanding and worthy competitions, but when you compete in an event with an Olympic title, the aura becomes something very few get to experience. I want to congratulate our team on a job extremely well done."

As staff was digesting what occurred in the Tyrolean Alps, it was time for the team to receive the fruit of their labor at the medal ceremony in the city.

"The ceremony was unreal," reflected West afterward. "The crowds were huge. Everyone was lined up all the way back in the stadium. Everyone was watching. Having a gold medal around your neck for the USA is the coolest thing ever."

With this part of the YOG concluded, the team members were planning on seeing other events Wednesday, and in the spirit of the YOG and its menu of cultural and educational programs, the girls were planning to take a cooking class, while the boys were going to become drummers.

Thereafter, there are two days of training in Igls and then the beat continues with a trip to Winterberg, Germany for the resumption of the Junior World Cup season.

Team relay results
Complete interviews with the gold medal team


 USA Luge’s Andersen/Edmunds score doubles bronze at Youth Olympic Games

Andersen/Edmunds put together for YOG event; Britcher 5th in women’s singles


Pat Edmunds and Ty Andersen were all smiles after winning bronze at the Youth Olympic Games. Photo: Pam West

IGLS, Austria – The luge doubles team of Ty Andersen and Pat Edmunds, arguably the tallest unit in luge history, won a Youth Olympic Games (YOG) bronze medal Monday at the site of the 1964 and 1976 Olympic events in Igls, Austria, just outside Innsbruck.

The 6-foot-7 inch Andersen, of Alpine, Utah, and the 6-foot-1 inch Edmunds, of Park City, Utah, were put together this year with the purpose of scoring a YOG medal. The plan came to fruition when the 17 year olds posted the third and fourth fastest heats, respectively, to wind up on the podium.


The doubles podium at the Youth Olympic Games in Igls, Austria. Photo: Brett West.

It’s great to know that we’ve won the medal,” said Edmunds, the back driver. “[We are] happy. We’re relaxed. Glad we came here and got something. It was a great race, too. We had great competitors. Even though we knew them, we weren’t expecting those kinds of times out of them. They were racing as best they can, so we raced the best we can. It was a good race.”


Summer Britcher following her fifth-place performance: Photo: Brett West.

Summer Britcher, of Glen Rock, Pa., was fifth in the women’s singles race, missing the medal stand by 0.15 of a second over the two heats. Raychel Germaine, of Roswell, Ga., finished 14th.

Italians Florian Gruber and Simon Kainzwaldner won the gold medal with runs of 42.590 and 42.604 seconds for a total of one minute, 25.194 seconds. Germany’s Tim Brendl and Florian Funk posted the silver medal time of 1:25.358. Andersen and Edmunds had the aggregate time of 1:25.766 down the course located on Patscherkofel Mountain.

“It was pretty good. We had a little bit of a rough start. It wasn’t as good as the rest of our starts, but it didn’t cause us any problems,” said front driver Andersen. “I don’t think it gave us too much of a hindrance in our time, so I’m satisfied with it. The second run was really good.

“We put down two good runs,” he continued. “The start was a little off in the second run, but we were able to pick up time during the run. I’m just glad I could represent America and do so well.”

In his excitement after crossing the finish line and knowing they had pocketed a medal, Andersen nearly forgot to unstrap himself before jumping up in celebration. The image of that notwithstanding, the achievement was not easy to come by despite the 0.18 of a second between them and fourth place.

“I mostly focused on making sure he (Anderson) is nice and relaxed going down the track,” stated Edmunds. “He got a little bit tense coming out of [corner] eight and going into [corner] nine. I could feel that. His head came up. He started looking. But after he got out of nine, I just yelled at him. He lays back. He’s good at it. And when we got to the labyrinth, he was nice and relaxed. I was happy with that.”

Britcher, the winner of the 2010-2011 youth division of the Junior World Cup, battled from start to finish. The 16 year old had two of the best get-away times in the field. She settled into fifth place at the intermission, before putting down the third best final heat. However, it was not enough to advance.

“The second run was alright,” she said. “I had a little problem out of (curve) five. I tapped the wall on the right side and started skidding. Nothing major.

“So far the experience here has been really great. The village is great. It’s probably the coolest thing I’ve ever done.”

Miriam-Stefanie Kastlunger won the YOG gold medal on her home track. Her times of 40.107 and 40.090 totaled 1:20.197. Saskia Langer, of Germany, was the silver medalist in 1:20.414. Latvia’s Ulla Zirne grabbed the bronze in 1:20.479.


Raychel Germaine following her second run. Photo: Pam West

Germaine’s time was 1:22.180.

In addition to the Olympic luge and bobsled events, the site, about 10 miles from Innsbruck, was the venue of one of most exciting moments in Olympic history when Austrian Franz Klammer raced to a harrowing, on-the-edge downhill gold medal in 1976.

For complete results for women and doubles, follow the links


 West 12th, Andersen 15th at Youth Olympic Games

Germans grab gold & bronze in men’s singles race

IGLS, Austria – The luge events at the inaugural winter Youth Olympic Games (YOG) yodeled a familiar tune Sunday, January 15, in the Tyrolean Alps as German men, led by Christian Paffe and Toni Graefe, tallied gold and bronze medals, respectively, on the Olympia track outside Innsbruck, Austria.

The YOG includes luge racers between the ages of 16 and 18, and features cultural and educational programs for the competitors to complement their athletic endeavors.

Tucker West, of Ridgefield, Conn., who had high hopes after taking a Junior World Cup silver medal in the youth division on the Igls track a month ago, got off to a strong first run start, but nearly crashed in turn 10 to effectively end his medal chances.

West, with three Junior World Cup medals in four youth division starts this season, wound up 12th in one minute, 20.335 seconds. The Americans also entered Ty Andersen, 17, of Alpine, Utah. The 6-foot-7 luger – arguably the tallest in the sport’s history – was 15th in 1:20.584.

“I tried not to think that this was different than a Junior World Cup,” said the 16 year old West. “But once we were at the track, I could definitely tell. There were so many more fans. Every curve was lined with people, and the competition was at a much higher level. It was still fun. I tried to treat it like a normal race.”

West and Andersen will get more opportunities in doubles and the team relay.

Tucker West, Ty Andersen and Pat Edmunds before a Youth Olympic Games training session. Photo: Brett West.

Paffe’s and Graefe’s older teammates had just completed a weekend run of seven World Cup medals earlier in the day in Oberhof, Germany when Paffe, using two consistently fast starts on the short, 1976 Olympic course, raced to the gold medal.

The 17 year old winner had the two best runs of the competition with 39.737 and 39.866 seconds for a total of 1:19.603. Latvian Riks Kristens Rozitis, despite very slow start times, drove a fast line down the course to the silver medal in 1:19.806.

Graefe’s bronze medal time was 1:19.920.

Paffe and Graefe had only entered one Junior World Cup event prior to the YOG. On this same Olympia course in December, Paffe was sixth, while Graefe took fifth, both in the older junior division.

In the midst of the racing, West is making time to absorb the Olympic surroundings.

“The atmosphere here is awesome,” he said. “We’re interacting with all the other countries. It’s so cool. I’ve never been to the Olympics, but I think it’s something like this.”

Complete results from the YOG men’s singles race can be found here.

The complete Tucker West interview can be found here.


USA Luge takes 5th in team relay as Germany runs the table winning all 4 weekend events

OBERHOF, Germany – The United States Luge Team picked up its best World Cup result of the weekend Sunday in Oberhof, Germany in the newest Olympic luge event.

The Americans finished fifth in the team relay in this eastern German winter resort. The event will be included for the first time in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

The team, comprised of singles athletes Erin Hamlin, of Remsen, N.Y., and Chris Mazdzer, of Saranac Lake, N.Y., with the doubles unit of Matt Mortensen, of Huntington Station, N.Y., and 2006 Olympian Preston Griffall, of Salt Lake City, Utah, were 0.2 from the podium.


Matt Mortensen and Preston Griffall stop the clock in Oberhof. Photo: AP.

“We had been having some trouble through (curves) eight, nine and 10,” said Griffall. “But today we had good lines through that section and the run felt pretty good. We had a little skid in the (curves) seven-eight transition. But overall, we’re pretty happy and pretty close to the other teams. If we put together three solid runs we’ll be in the hunt for the medals.”

Hamlin and the Mortensen-Griffall team had sixth place World Cup efforts 24 hours earlier. Mazdzer finished 14th in men’s singles earlier in the day.

Germany completed a trifecta by totally dominating the event, the day and the weekend. Their team of individual discipline winners Natalie Geisenberger and Felix Loch in singles with Toni Eggert and Sascha Benecken in doubles registered three runs totaling two minutes, 24.768 seconds.

They distanced themselves from Italy’s silver medal team by approximately 1.3 seconds. The Italians clocked 2:26.061. Russia grabbed the bronze with 2:26.142. The United States was timed in 2:26.347.

Germany has won two of the four team relays to date, and leads the overall World Cup chase with 370 points. Canada, fourth Sunday, is second on the campaign with 295, followed by Russia with 280 on the strength of four team relay bronze medals.

The U.S. is sixth with 210.

The day began with Loch distancing himself from the field in the men’s World Cup event when he led a 1-2-3 sweep of the medals down the 1,070 meter-long men’s course. And there is no let-up in sight after German youth grabbed boy’s gold and bronze Sunday in the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in Innsbruck, Austria.

Loch, the Vancouver Olympic gold medalist and two-time World Champion, finished ahead of fellow countrymen David Moeller and Andi Langenhan en route to his fourth win in five World Cup races.
Mazdzer, in just his second start of the season, matched his career-best World Cup result by placing 14th on Oberhof’s challenging 14-turn layout. Mazdzer had a pair of 14th place results in 2009-2010 before finishing 13th in the Vancouver Winter Olympics.

Teammates Joe Mortensen, of Huntington Station, N.Y., (Matt’s brother) and Taylor Morris, of South Jordan, Utah, placed 30th and 31st, respectively.

Loch used a track record first heat time of 43.921 to grab the early lead. His second attempt of 44.121 was the second fastest in the field, yet enough to win the race by 0.2 of a second over Moeller.

Loch’s two-run total was 1:28.042. Moeller clocked 1:28.251, with Langenhan at 1:28.331. The winner has now amassed 485 overall World Cup points. Moeller is second with 370, followed by Johannes Ludwig, seventh on Sunday, with 311.

Italy’s 38 year old Armin Zoeggeler was fourth in the race, once again losing ground in his bid to become the most winning men’s overall champion. The two-time Olympic champion and six-time world title holder is deadlocked at 10 overall tour crowns with retired Austrian Markus Prock.

Zoeggeler is fourth in the rankings with 305 points. He has two World Cup medals this season in five starts.

Mazdzer, who trained in Lake Placid, N.Y. through December, was timed in 1:28.874. Mortensen and Morris recorded near-identical times: Mortensen 1:29.953, Morris 1:29.957.

Mazdzer is 29th overall with 48 points in just two events. Morris is 32nd with 40 points in four competitions. Isaac Underwood, of Skandia, Mich., is 35th with 31 points. Trent Matheson, of Bountiful, Utah, is 39th with 23 points. Underwood and Matheson have three starts, all in the 2011 segment of the schedule. Mortensen has 22 points for 40th place. Robbie Huerbin, of Pittsburgh, Pa., has 12 points in the last two events and stands 46th. Huerbin’s total came via two Nations Cup qualifiers. Although he did not advance in either race, the FIL awards World Cup points for Nations Cup finishes.

For the complete men’s results, click here. For the complete team relay results, click here. For the Preston Griffall interview, click here.

World Cup racing resumes Jan. 20-22 in Winterberg, Germany.


US Luge Team eyeing return to podium as 5 sleds enter top 11 in Oberhof

OBERHOF, Germany – The United States doubles team of Matt Mortensen and Preston Griffall, members of the National Guard’s World Class Athlete Program, scored their second top 10 of the season Saturday with a sixth place performance as the World Cup luge tour continued in this eastern German winter sports mecca.

They were fifth in the Calgary, Alberta World Cup last month. Teammates Christian Niccum and Jayson Terdiman were eighth in Oberhof.

Remsen, N.Y.’s Erin Hamlin, the veteran 2009 World Champion, reached down for a valiant second run to improve from 11th place to sixth. It was her third top 10 result of the year. She was 0.56 of a second from the podium.

“Oberhof and I don’t have the best history,” said Hamlin. “This week, the sled felt good here right off the bat. I was glad to have that feeling back.

“My first run was a little off. The start was not the best. I was fighting to keep it down the middle of the ramp, and from (curves) eight to around 11, I was a little off. You can lose quite a bit of momentum through there. But I was able to smooth it out in the second run.”

Hamlin, a two-time Olympian, was backed by her younger teammates. Kate Hansen’s eighth place result and Emily Sweeney’s 11th were both World Cup bests for two racers still in their late teens.

Germany used home ice to their advantage as they dominated the doubles and women’s singles races. They took five of six medals on the day.

Germans Toni Eggert and Sascha Benecken, who have been challenging the doubles leaders since the second half of last year, finally broke through with their first career World Cup win. Eggert and Benecken used track record start and finish times – both in the first heat – and posted the two best runs of the race. They won in dominant fashion, creating nearly a 0.25 cushion between themselves and teammates Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt.

The winners clocked times of 41.765 and 41.779 seconds in totaling 1 minute, 23.544 seconds down an Oberhof track that ranks among the most technically challenging on the World Cup tour. The 12-turn layout offers just one true straightaway as it continually turns its way down 946 meters.

Wendl and Arlt, after a slower start to their seasons than anticipated, have inserted themselves into the overall World Cup picture with a runner-up finish in 1:23.775. They have two gold medals and a silver medal in their last three starts, and are now ranked second in the World Cup overall standings with 395 points.

The Austrian Linger brothers – Andreas and Wolfgang - were third in Oberhof in 1:24.199. The two-time Olympic champions remain atop the rankings with 410 points.

Mortensen, of Huntington Station, N.Y., and Griffall, of Salt Lake City, Utah, a 2006 Olympian, were timed in 1:24.468, and have 171 points for 11th place. Niccum, of Woodinville, Wash., and Terdiman, of Berwick, Pa., recorded 1:24.747, and are in 10th place with 173 World Cup points.

Shane Hook, of Grapevine, Texas, and Zac Clark, of Salt Lake City, have accumulated 42 points for 24th place in just two events.

Jake Hyrns, of Muskegon, Mich., and Andrew Sherk, of Fort Washington, Pa., are 26th with 24 points after just one World Cup start. Both were hurt earlier this month during training in Koenigssee, Germany. Their World Cup seasons ended when Hyrns injured his left wrist, while Sherk suffered a minor concussion.

German women swept the podium as Natalie Geisenberger led the team ahead of 2010 Olympic gold medal winner Tatjana Huefner and Anke Wischnewski.

Geisenberger posted 42.393 and a track record 42.050 for a total of 1:24.443. The Vancouver Olympic bronze medalist was 0.25 clear of Huefner who registered 1:24.690. Huefner established a start record to begin her final leg. Anke Wischnewski was third in 1:25.107.

Huefner is atop the women’s overall standings with 455 points. Geisenberger has closed the margin with 395, and Canadian Alex Gough, fourth in this race, is third on the campaign with 360.

Hamlin retains her seventh place rank at 205; Hansen, the 2008 World Junior Champion from La Canada, Calif., is 21stwith 88; Sweeney, of Suffield, Conn., is 24th with 66 points. The latter two competitors have only entered three of the five World Cups held to date after beginning the year on the Junior World Cup.

Sweeney has won two races while Hansen has accrued three medals, all on the international junior circuit.

For complete results on the Oberhof events, click on the links below.
http://www.usaluge.org/team/WC512Doubles.pdf
http://www.usaluge.org/team/WC512Women.pdf

Hear the complete interview with Erin Hamlin at the link below.
www.usaluge.org/team/ErinPostOberhof2012.mp3



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