National champions.
For lugers Tristan Walker of Cochrane and Justin Snith of Calgary, it may be a formality.
But it doesn’t change the fact they enter the 2014-15 International Luge Federation (FIL) Viessmann World Cup season as Canada’s top doubles lugers.
On a snowy Nov. 9 morning at Calgary’s Canada Olympic Park (COP) sliding centre, the dynamic duo claimed the national doubles luge title with a pair of 46-second-ish runs (46.158 and 46.316).
As the only senior doubles team vying for the Canadian team slot, they needed to ensure they were on form and able to keep the up-and-coming juniors in the rear view. It is their fifth year as senior national champs and Canada’s doubles team on the World Cup luge circuit.
“This was the first time we’ve had some competition in a while,” Walker said on the finish dock at COP after the second, and title-clinching, run. “It’s pretty exciting to see some of the young kids coming up, and hopefully they’ll make the junior team and make a splash on the junior circuit this year.”
To go with the weather, there was added snow swirling around the luge track as COP snowmaking cannons sprayed artificial snow over the ski hill next to the luge track. Some of the artificial white stuff fell on the track.
“We had to deal with the ski hill making snow during our races,” Walker said. “But it’s fine. We tried running our cold-weather steels because we knew it was going to be colder today and they work a lot better than on warm, soft ice.
“These are our first officiated runs of the year. It’s a good warmup to actually start feeling like you are racing again, rather than just training.”
They’ve been training in Calgary and Whistler for the last month, preparing for another “quad” – a four-year cycle leading up to the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in South Korea.
“The equipment is running well,” Walker said of the Global Steel-sponsored two-man luge. “We had a good summer of training. We’re excited to get on the ice with some other competitors.”
Following two fourth-place finishes at the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia, Walker and Snith are more determined than ever to take their game to the next level. They finished in the Top 10 (7th) on the World Cup circuit last year, winning doubles bronze in Konigssee, Germany, and team-relay silver in Altenberg, Germany.
“That’s going to be the goal for every World Cup this year is a push for the podium,” Walker stated.
Added Snith: “I can honestly say we are no longer satisfied with top-10s.”
Walker and Snith open the FIL Viessmann World Cup luge season Nov. 29 in Innsbruck-Igls, Austria.
