CALGARY'S LAURA GLOVER ACHIEVES FIRST PODIUM FINISH EVER
I am so, so happy, said Glover. I haven't placed all year and it's great to do it here with all my friends and family out to watch. When asked about future aspirations, Glover, 14, would love to be a forerunner during the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver and then look towards 2014 and perhaps a berth on the Canadian Olympic luge team.
Glover finished .934 seconds behind the American slider, Kate Hansen, who took the gold and Lea vanderlinden, also from the United States who finished with the silver. Canadian teammate Kimberly McRae rounded out the top-four. Canada's Elena Corrigall was sitting in third position following the first run but encountered problems in corner 12, resulting in a crash.
In the doubles race, Walker and Snith, Canada's bronze medal team from last week's Junior World Cup in Utah finished up fifth on their home track. In training we were looking good for a third-place finish but we had some minor problems in our first run that got worse in the second, said Walker.
The curves here are difficult, teammate Snith further explained. It was easier in Salt Lake City (Park City Junior World Cup), because we started at a lower start house.
Not a bad result at all for the new doubles partnership though. Both Walker and Snith are still technically Youth athletes at only sixteen years of age. The teams that reached the podium tonight are three to four years older, with that much more experience under their belt.
The Canadian Luge Association is the governing body for luge racing in Canada. 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.
FOR COMPLETE RESULTS: www.fil-luge.org
Junior Doubles
1. Eggert/Oster, GER, 1:29.399
Canadian Results:
5. Walker/Snith, CAN, 1:31.048; 6. Pifko/Medrek, CAN, 1:31.610
Youth A Women
1. Kate Hansen, USA, 1:32.068
Canadian Results:
3. Laura Glover, CAN, 1:33.002, 4. Kimberly McRae, CAN, 1:33.301; 6. Jordan Smith, CAN, 1:33.586; 7. Dayna Clay, CAN, 1:33.690; Elena Corrigall, CAN, DNF
Junior Womens
1. Carina Schwab, GER, 1:29.902
Canadian Results:
6. Denae Delcourt, CAN, 1:31.297; 12. Arianne Jones, CAN, 1:32.411; 18. AnnaONeill, CAN, 1:37.102
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