Let the Games begin.
With the last round of Canadian luge training in Sochi ending Nov. 5, the Olympic torch in outer space and 84 days to the start of the 2014 Winter Games, Cochrane’s Tristan Walker is eager to pop the top off this Olympiad.
The countdown is on.
Walker, and luge doubles teammate Justin Snith of Calgary, are currently in Lillehammer, Norway, for the start of the World Cup luge season. The dynamic luge duo opened the season by winning the Canadian luge doubles championship Oct. 20 in Whistler, B.C. It was their third national doubles luge title.
But the 22-year-old Cochranite, who steers the luge feet-first down the track at speeds reaching 140 km/h while lying on top of sliding partner Snith, is most stoked by his team’s performance in the last round of Canadian training at the Sanki Sliding Centre in Sochi, Russia.
“I’m very happy with what we accomplished in training at the Olympic track in Sochi,” he related by e-mail from Lillehammer. “Justin and I were sliding really well there last week and we are pretty comfortable with the track.”
The Olympic track has challenges unusual to luge, which the Canadians focussed on during training.
“The Sanki is unique because it has three uphill sections,” Walker explained. “We were a little bit worried about this at first because we are one of the smaller sleds in the field. And the heavier you are, the more momentum you carry through the uphills. However, with a run time of about 51 seconds, it’s also one of the longer tracks in the world and it seems like aerodynamics is going to play a big role in how fast you go. Which is good for us because we’re smaller.”
They’ve gained valuable practical knowledge of the 1,500-metre-long, refrigerated trench that drops 132 metres over 18 curves. So it’s now about getting as many competitive reps on the World Cup as they can on their Global Steel/Crescent Point Energy-sponsored luge prior to the Olympics. Walker added five kilograms of muscle over the summer to improve the team’s starts, where they grip a fixed handle at the top of the track, yank as hard as they can to launch and then “paddle” with their hands until lying back on the sled and shooting down the track. His added weight also increases the luge’s momentum, keeping running speeds up.
“We’re in Norway now getting ready for the first World Cup of the season,” he related. “We still have nine World Cups, five of which are Olympic qualifiers before then. So right now I’m working on keeping my focus on one race at a time.”
But it’s not easy keeping your mind off the big show that comes around every four years being just 84 days away. Opening ceremonies are Feb. 7.
“It’s pretty hard to ignore that there are less than 100 days to go before opening ceremonies, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think about it at least once a day.”
As for Walker’s expectations at the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi: “I think there’s a big difference between your chances and expectations at the Olympics. I don’t like to talk about the chances of making it on the podium but, I’m going to be brutally honest, I won’t be happy if I leave Russia in February without at least one medal.”
