USA Luge’s Clukey Wins Gold, Walden Claims Silver in Italy

MERANSEN, Italy --- USA Luge’s Julia Clukey (Augusta, Maine) raced to a gold medal finish, while her teammate, Ashley Walden (Westborough, Mass.), won silver during Saturday’s, Aug. 29, international luge start championships held in Meransen, Italy.

Clukey successfully defended her women’s singles crown with race times of 4.760 seconds, 7.731 and 4.756, en route to a combined time of 14.247. Walden’s silver medal finish was clocked in 14.462. Walden, who slid to bronze during this race last season, clocked runs of 4.822, 4.806 and 4.634.

Fellow Americans Courtney Zablocki (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) and Erin Hamlin (Remsen, N.Y.) were sixth and seventh, respectively. Zablocki, a two-time Olympian, completed her three runs in 14.691, while Hamlin, the reigning world champion, posted a combined time of 14.788. 

Germany’s Tatjania Huefner slid to the event’s bronze medal in a three-heat total of 14.480.

Germany’s pair of Robert Eschrich and Andi Langenhan came away with Saturday’s doubles’ title. The duo clocked a total time of 13.956, just two-hundredths of a second in front of the second place sled of Austria’s Tobias Schiegl and Markus Schiegl, who’s three-run time was 13.976. The Schiegl’s teammates, Andreas Linger and Wolfgang Linger, slipped into the bronze medal spot in 14.037.

Matt Mortensen (Huntington Station, N.Y.) and Preston Griffall (Salt Lake City, Utah) scored the top U.S. finish, fourth, and raced to a three-heat total of 14.151, while their teammates, Mark Grimmette (Muskegon, Mich.) and Brian Martin (Palo Alto, Calif.), were two spots back, in sixth place. The two-time Olympic medalists and six-time world championship bronze medalists stopped the clock in 14.185.

Langenhan came away from the first international race of the season with a pair of titles, after also winning the men’s singles crown. Langenhan raced past the 20-sled field in 13.642, just ahead of Andreas Linger, who finished second in 13.685. Eschrich also won a pair of medals, Saturday, this time bronze when he completed his three men’s singles runs in a time of 13.869.

Americans Bengt Walden (Westborough, Mass.) and Chris Mazdzer (Saranac Lake, N.Y.) each found themselves in the top-10, with seventh and 10th place results, respectively, while their teammate, Joe Mortensen (Huntington Station, N.Y.), was 14th. Walden grabbed the squad’s top finish, in 14.052, while Mazdzer posted a three-run total of 14.140. Mortensen came away from the race in 14.212.