Young Canucks Storm Podium with Gold and Silver at Luge World Cup in Park City

Young Canucks Storm Podium with Gold and Silver at Luge World Cup in Park City

—Mitchel Malyk wins gold, John Fennell slides to silver—

PARK CITY, USA—Canada’s young luge athletes, Mitchel Malyk and John Fennell, stormed the podium for the second straight race at the Youth World Cup in Park City, Utah on Tuesday.

Malyk, who won the silver on Saturday, overcame his fellow Calgary-based teammate to capture his first-ever international victory. The 16-year-old clocked a two-run time of 1:29.668.

“I knew I’d have to take down John if I wanted to win today and I’m very happy to be able to get it done,” said Malyk. “I didn’t expect this. It is a great start to the season and now we are looking forward to getting on our home track to keep it going in Calgary.”

Canada’s 16-year-old golden boy from the opening race, John Fennell, was sitting in fourth spot after the opening trip down the 2002 Olympic Track, but put down a near perfect second run to slide his way onto the silver medal position of the podium. Fennell posted a two-run time of 1:29.686.

“My starts weren’t as good today and I had a skid on my first run,” said Fennell. “I was much happier with my second run. It is another good day for us and we are pretty excited.”

Tucker West, of the United States, rounded out the men’s youth podium in third spot with a two-run combined time of 1:29.800.

Brian Marriott was the only other Canadian in the field and finished ninth at 1:30.967.

The Canadian Luge Association is a not-for-profit organization responsible for 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 YOUTH/JUNIOR WORLD CUP RESULTS: www.fil-luge.org

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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:

Chris Dornan                                                     

Media and Public Relations   

T: 281-703-4394