A number of athletes from our region will participate in the Winter Olympics in Beijing next month. USA Luge is based in Lake Placid and the Olympic teams were recently finalized following World Cup races. Several of the sliding athletes recently previewed the 2022 games.
In luge, competitors lie on their back on a sled and race down an iced track at over 75 mph.
The singles men and women’s teams includes a mix of veterans and new Olympic competitors. Summer Britcher spent a few weeks training at the Beijing track last summer.
“The new track in Beijing is actually kind of slower speeds which is not very typical for these newer style tracks. It’s a very long track without hitting those high speeds that we’re seeing in a lot of the newer tracks. So that kind of adds some different elements. The curves are a lot more open just leaving you some different driving styles," describes Britcher. "And then we’ve barely had any training there. Along with the rest of the world we’ve only taken one trip there so far so we’re going in with a mostly level playing field.”
The USA men’s doubles team consists of Zack DiGregorio of Medway, Massachusetts and Sean Hollander of Lake Placid. Hollander finds the Beijing track challenging.
“It’s got a lot of low pressure flowy curves. It gets very fast at the bottom. There’s a lot of uphills which create kind of a negative-G where it gets very hard to control the sled. You can’t really drive there. So you’ve got to really trust it and let it run. It’s also a very long track so you have to be on the ball in every curve." Hollander adds, "And as far as being a bottom man on that track it’s a lot harder to tell what’s going on because there’s not as many pressure points in the curves so it’s kind of hard to tell exactly where you are in the curve.”
Competing in his fourth Olympics, Chris Mazdzer is on the men’s singles team. He won a silver medal in 2018.
“It’s a little bittersweet, you know. I really, really wanted to do singles and doubles at the Olympics. I’m definitely very excited to be going to the Olympics. I just wish it was with Jayson as well.”
Mazdzer has in past Olympics competed in men’s double luge. But earlier this month he and partner Jayson Terdiman crashed during a World Cup qualifying race. That eliminated their chances of being named to the Olympic doubles team. Terdiman says it’s heartbreaking not to be on the team.
“We fought through a lot of adversity this season. We bounced back the best way we knew how. It just didn’t end up being enough. You know it’s tough. But you know the first thing on my mind is alright what can I do to continue to help this team? Just because my journey is over doesn’t mean this show’s going to stop and I want to give our team the best possibility to be as successful as I can.”
To accomplish that Terdiman has given his sled to the competing men’s doubles team.
“I know that the sled that I own is the fastest equipment in the United States.”
The Olympics begin February 4rd. Due to a 13-hour time difference, the U.S. will view the opening ceremonies on February 3rd.
