USA Luge wraps up historic international race season

LAKE PLACID, N.Y. - Fans of luge in the United States had a lot to get excited about this season. Erin Hamlin’s historic win at the 41st F.I.L. Luge World Championships, coupled with Mark Grimmette and Brian Martin’s return to the podium at the same event, highlighted the pre-Olympic luge season, while the World Cup finale at the 2010 Olympic track in Whistler, Canada saw speed records set and cemented luge’s spot as the fastest sport on ice®.

Hamlin (Remsen, N.Y.) cracked a German winning streak that had lasted 99-consecutive international events – and more than 12 years. Making the feat even more significant was the fact that it had been 16 years since a non-German took a World Championship title, and during the last eleven consecutive World Championship or Olympic competitions, the Germans had swept all of the 33 medals. At the same event, three-time World Cup Champions Grimmette (Muskegon, Mich. and Lake Placid, N.Y.) and Martin (Palo Alto, Calif. and Lake Placid, N.Y.) regained their podium form after a two year medal drought, in part, due to injuries, to take their sixth career Bronze medal.

Bengt Walden (Westborough, Mass. and Lake Placid, N.Y.) also enjoyed a break-out season, with three top seven performances, including a sixth place finish at the World Championships. Walden, an Olympian for the Swedish team, became a member of the U.S. squad following his marriage to Ashley Walden (formerly Hayden), herself a 2002 Olympian.

Less than two weeks after the World Championships, the team’s focus switched to the ultra-high speed luge track in Whistler for the Olympic Test Event, where speeds topped the 95 MPH mark for the first time during an officially sanctioned luge event.

“The key to the fast section of the track is getting curve 11 right,” said Grimmette of the brand-new Whistler Sliding Center. “The margin of error is very small and if you make a mistake you have to be very quick with your fixes.”

The team is currently training for the Norton U.S. National Championships and team selection races on March 13 and 14 at the Olympic Sports Complex in Lake Placid, N.Y. Following the Championships, athletes will have the option continue training and sled testing until late April. Following the conclusion of on-ice training, team members may also visit the San Diego Low Speed Wind Tunnel Facility in the late spring to test new designs and materials.

For more information on the Fastest Sport on Ice®, log on to www.usaluge.org.