Canada's Jeff Christie Slides To Best Ever Result At Luge World Championships
-Italy's Armin Zöggeler captures 200
Vancouver's Christie slid into 12th place, capturing his country's best ever result in over 20 years in men's singles racing at a championship event, when he slid down the track for a combined time of one minute 31.424 seconds.
"I am extremely excited about my performance tonight," said the 22-year-old, who had the second fastest run with a time of 45.324 in his second heat. "Everything went extremely well and I slid through all corners cleanly to have two great runs."
Christie, who led the Canadian men on the World Cup campaign this season, jumped four spots from his 16th place finish at last year's world championships in Nagano, Japan.
"I am very happy with the success I've seen this season," said Christie who equaled his best-ever World Cup result on his home track in Calgary last December. "Now it is time to prepare for an Olympic year. I have to put in a hard training session in this summer and go out and race in the winter to be the best prepared as possible."
Italy's Armin Zöggeler stole the spotlight from the German sliders, powering his way into first to grab the gold medal and world championship title with a combined time of 1:30.617. Legendary luge great Georg Hackl of Germany, who finished second in overall World Cup points, followed close behind to take home the silver medal with 1:30.770, while teammate David Möller rounded out third at 1:30.784.
Three other Canadians suited up on Saturday. Jorgen Krause, Didsbury, Alta., was the next best Canuck, sliding into 26th spot with a time of 1:32.883. Calgary's Sam Edney, who slid into 17th place in yesterday's doubles event with partner Gwyn Lewis, ended the day in 27th position with a time of 1:33.033, while Ian Cockerline, Calgary, finished in 36th at 1:34.415.
The 2005 Luge World Championships will wrap up on Sunday with the team event.
The Canadian Luge Associaton is the governing body for luge racing in Canada. In partnership with CODA, the Canadian Luge Association operates the Olympic Luge Training Centre at Canada Olympic Park in Calgary, which develops our nation's high-performance luge athletes and promotes the sport across the country. For more information on the Canadian Luge Association, please visit us at www.luge.ca on the Internet.
COMPLETE TEAM RESULTS: www.fil-luge.org
Top-Five Men's Results (41 Sleds):
1. Armin Zöggeler, ITA, 1:30.617; 2. Georg Hackl, GER, 1:30.770; 3. David Möller, GER, 1:30.784; 4. Jan Eichhorn, GER, 1:30.893; 5. Markus Kleinheinz, AUT, 1:31.001.
Canadian Results:
12. Jeff Christie, Vancouver, 1:31.424, 26. Jorgen Krause, Didsbury, Alta., 1:32.883; 27. Sam Edney, Calgary, 1:33.033; 36. Ian Cockerline, Calgary, 1:34.415.