While on the fast track to the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia, Cochrane’s Tristan Walker is still not satisfied with his results.
Partnered in the doubles luge event with Calgary’s Justin Snith, the pair finished a personal-best fifth at a World Cup luge event Nov. 30 in Winterberg, Germany. They have met the qualifying standard for Canada’s Olympic luge team and secured a spot in the luge doubles and luge team relay events in Sochi.
“Our doubles race was a little bittersweet for me,” Walker said. “On one hand, fifth is a good result for us, especially in Winterberg, a track that we have had a lot of difficulty on in the past. On the other hand, we had a mistake on the first run that cost us between 2- and 3-tenths of a second. So while I am happy with a Winterberg personal-best finish of fifth, I am definitely not satisfied.”
They finished just 13/1000ths of a second away from a medal in Winterberg, the fifth-place finish being their highest on the World Cup luge doubles circuit so far this season. So they are headed in the right direction leading up to the Feb. 7-23 Olympics. Walker and Snith slide into Whistler, B.C., this weekend (Dec. 6-7) for another World Cup luge event.
