Canadian Luge Athletes Get Wake Up Call at World Cup in Germany

WINTERBERG, Ger.—Sam Edney finished in 14th place as Canada’s luge athletes fight their way through a difficult run in Germany.

The 30-year-old Edney clocked a time of 1:46.121 on the 15-corner track in Winterberg – their third straight race in Germany.

“The start times were not to bad, We have some improvement to do, but the runs were not consistent enough,” said Wolfgang Staudinger, head coach, Canadian Luge Team.

Canada’s best luge athletes enjoyed a historic week on their home track in Calgary prior to the holiday break where they racked up an unprecedented four medals, including Edney becoming the first Canadian male ever to win a World Cup race.

Struggling slightly over the last two weeks, the rest of the world is delivering a wake-up call to the Canucks in Germany.

“It is time we wake up and smell the coffee,” said Staudinger. “We have had some success but slowly the world is catching up to us and waving as they go by. Together we need to work a little harder to make good things happen.”

Germany’s Felix Loch finished on top once again with a time of 1:45.361. Russia’s Stephan Fedorov slid to the silver medal with a time of 1:45.433. Tucker West, of the United States, won the race for the bronze at 1:45.718.

Canada did not field a doubles team on Saturday. Justin Snith injured his foot while training in the gym earlier in the week. Coaches decided to pull the team this week to give him time to properly recover with the World Championships coming up in February. Mitch Malyk returned home last week after coming down with Mono.

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 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 Top-Five and Canadian Results:

1. Felix Loch, GER, 1:45.361; 2. Stephan Fedorov, RUS, 1:45.433; 3. Tucker West, USA, 1:45.718; 4. Kevin Fischnaller, ITA, 1:45.720; 5. Julian von Schleinitz, GER, 1:45.743

Canadian Results:

14. Sam Edney, Calgary, 1:46.121