WHISTLER, Canada --- It will take more time to assess whether it is the most technically challenging track in the world, but the Whistler Sliding Center 2010 Olympic luge track looks like it will be the fastest. Sliders from seven countries participated in last week's International Luge Federation (F.I.L.) homologation (certification) and gave the 1,450-meter long, 16-curve course on the Blackcomb Mountain in Whistler, Canada the thumbs up after reaching speeds of 90-miles-per-hour.
"We were going 145 [kilometers-per-hour: k/h] in training gear and training steels," said Tony Benshoof (White Bear Lake, Minn.), one of four American sliders who participated in the four-day certification process. "I'm guessing, on good ice, 155 [k/h] or maybe even faster, it's going to be 95-miles-per-hour for sure... 100-percent it's going to be 95-miles-per-hour. At those speeds position is the key." (Listen to Audio)
Benshoof should know a little something about speed. The 32-year-old is included in the Guinness Book of World Records for the highest-ever recorded luge speed, 86.6-miles-per-hour (a new record will likely follow the new track once Guinness standards are applied). He also competed in both the 2002 and 2006 Olympic Winter Games. The 2002 Olympic course, in Park City, Utah, was dubbed the world's fastest track, while during the 2006 winter games, in Torino, Italy, he recorded the two fastest men's singles race runs of 86.5 miles-per-hour each. Benshoof says that sliders can't get too caught up in the beautiful scenery that surrounds the track, because from top to bottom this course was not built for slow pokes or the faint of heart.
"It's amazing how the track drops from curve one to the exit of curve two. Someone told me it was a 20-degree slope on curve-two, which I think is the most steep curve on the circuit," added Benshoof. "I kind of dubbed it 'Waterfall' for a couple of reasons. First of all, there is a waterfall that travels underneath it, but man, you also feel like you're going off a waterfall when you come down it because you go from zero to 120 [k/h] in the course of about 10 seconds.
"On the bottom half, you go into warp speed.....you really do. It wasn't until the last day those curves started slowing down in my head. Before that, it was just a big blur."
While the foreign athletes have packed up and left, the Canadian squad remained behind for another week to try and find even more speed and learn more about the track's nuances. The Olympic international training week is scheduled for Nov. 3 through 9, while the World Cup test event is slated for Feb. 16 through 22. The Olympic luge competitions begin Feb. 13, 2010.
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