Canada's Tristan Walker and Justin Snith Team up to Finish 15th in World Cup Luge
WINTERBERG, Ger.—Tristan Walker and Justin Snith led Canada at the second stop of the World Cup luge circuit with a 15h-place finish in the men’s doubles race in Winterberg, Germany on Saturday.
The 19-year-old Olympic teammates from the Calgary area, rebounded after a challenging opening run where they tapped off the opening start corner, to have a solid second run and post a combined time of one minute, 27.962.
“The doubles team had a really good start and second run,” said Wolfgang Staudinger, head coach, Canadian Luge Team. “For their age, and with the potential they have, we have to be happy with this result.”
The two Canucks finished just over one second off the golden pace set by Germany’s Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt who clocked a winning time of 1:26.832. Italy’s Christian Oberstolz and Patrick Gruber slid to the silver medal for the second straight week at 1:26.842, while Christian Niccum and Jayson Terdiman locked up the bronze with a time of 1:27.159.
Meanwhile, reigning national luge champion, Brendan Hauptman, continued to lead the Canadians in men’s singles racing. The 23-year-old Hauptman, of Kimberly, B.C., followed up his top-15 finish last week by sliding to 19th spot in Germany. Hauptman posted a two-run time of 1:45.673.
Experimenting with new equipment, Calgary’s two-time Olympians – Jeff Christie and Sam Edney – finished back in the pack. Christie was 22nd at 1:45.831, while Edney finished 26th (1:46.305).
“We are working on a number of things with our sleds and learning what system we should be going on,” said Staudinger. “I am optimistic that Jeff and Sam can still be up there with the best, and we’ll continue to make changes heading into Calgary.”
Italy’s Armin Zöggeler captured his 50th World Cup victory with a golden time of 1:44.322. Germany’s David Möller was second once again at 1:44.541, while his teammate, Julian von Schleinitz, rounded out the men’s podium (1:44.601).
The World Cup continues in Winterberg, Germany on Sunday with women’s racing.
The Canadian Luge Association is a not-for-profit organization governing the sport of luge across the country. With the financial backing of its title sponsor, Fast Track Capital, along with the support from the Government of Canada, Canadian Olympic Committee and Own the Podium, the Canadian Luge Association safely recruits and develops the nation’s current and future high-performance luge athletes with the goal of regularly climbing onto the international podium. For more information on the Canadian Luge Association, please visit us at www.luge.ca on the Internet.
COMPLETE RESULTS: www.fil-luge.org
Men’s Doubles Top-Five Results;
1. Wendl/Arlt, GER, 1:26.832; 2. Oberstolz/Grubert, ITA, 1:26.842; 3. Niccum/Terdiman, USA, 1:27.159; 4. Eggert/Benecker, GER, 1:27.265; 5. Kuzmich/Mikheev, RUS, 1:27.333.
Canadian Results:
15. Tristan Walker, Cochrane, Alta./Justin Snith, Calgary, 1:27.962
Men’s Top-Five Results:
1. Armin Zöggeler, ITA, 1:44.322; 2. David Möller, GER, 1:44.541; 3. Julian von Schleinitz, GER, 1:44.601; 4. Felix Loch, GER, 1:44.649; 5. Reinhard Egger, AUT, 1:44.751
Canadian Results:
19. Brendan Hauptman, Kimberly, B.C., 1:45.673; 22. Jeff Christie, Calgary, 1:45.831; 26. Sam Edney, Calgary, 1:46.305.
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