Here is Team Canada's recap from the latest World Cup.
This track was brand new for all three of us. Luckily we had had one day of training here two weeks ago. This provided us with some familiarity upon entering the race. On the doubles front, Greg and Kaj had found some fantastic training in Campil, Italy. They spent the week becoming more comfortable with higher speeds and by the end were super excited about how fast they were now going.
As per usual, the doubles were featured first on Saturday with the women and men to follow. Having all the competition runs on the same day meant that Greg and Kaj would have a full day with five runs in total. They were very happy with their doubles performance and found that they were already showing signs of competitiveness by beating their Ukrainian buddies and finishing in 10th place.
Following the doubles race was the singles event. This took place sans sun under the questionable illumination of the track lights. In some sections of the track additional lighting had been added in an attempt to rid shadowy sections. The additional lights were of a different colour and still failed to correct all of the track's shadows. This caused the track to be lit in three different ways. There could be a shadowy section, followed by a yellow corner, followed by a white straight for example. This made it extremely difficult to pick out the different aspects of the track needed for precise driving that are normally consistent under day light or an adequate lighting system. And for a terrifying moment, the entire field held their breath when a section of straight away lighting blacked out and the back up system failed to instantly correct the problem. Much to every one's relief, the athlete was able to brake safely to a stop and given a re-run.
As for our results, Greg was not overly pleased with his 29th place but found a victory in being able to cope with the terrible lighting conditions despite his colour blindness. A mistake in a critical corner during John's first run pushed him down to 27th position. He did however find redemption in the night with a much better second run and moved up two positions into 25th place. Kaj was disappointed with his performance but found solace in his 20th position knowing that his top 20 streak was maintained.
We are now in the Passeier Valley in Italy where the World Championships are going to be held in two weeks. We are fortunate enough to have a full three days of training here before moving on. During next week's break we are looking forward to going "home" to Olang and seeing familiar faces and a familiar track.
All for now,
The Canadian Natural Luge Team
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