COMING UP HUGE IN LUGE
Bronze a first on foreign track
Sam Edney served notice Sunday of his intention to contend at the 2018 Winter Games by claiming bronze at an Olympic luge test event in PyeongChang, South Korea.
In doing so, the Calgarian made history as the first Canadian man to ever win a World Cup luge medal on a foreign track.
At 32, Edney is a three-time Olympian who thought he might never have another chance at reversing the heartbreak of a crushing fourth-place finish in the team event at the 2014 Sochi Games.
A shot at sweet redemption is just a year away.
“More than anything, this is a good boost for myself mentally,” Edney told Postmedia on Sunday before leaving PyeongChang for Seoul.
“I feel like I’ve had some pretty close calls in the past. This track isn’t anybody’s home track, and it’s a great feeling knowing I was able to drive the sled down and be one of the most consistent guys.”
Consistency is the key to winning an Olympic medal in luge with the competitors ranked by total time over four runs.
Edney posted a two-run time of one minute, 37.694 seconds Sunday for bronze behind Italy’s Dominik Fischnaller (1:37.229) and Germany’s Andi Langenhan (1:37.378.)
The podium performance comes on the heels of a disastrous 28th-place finish for Edney at the world championships in Igls, Austria.
This is only the second individual World Cup podium for Edney in 15 years on the national team.
Back in 2014, he became the first Canadian male to win a World Cup luge race on his home track in Calgary.
Dogged by injuries, Edney used the 2015-16 season to finish a bachelor’s degree in commerce with a focus on entrepreneurial management.
“I know I’ve already taken the right steps to be ready for that transition after the Olympics in 2018. I think that benefits any athlete to not have that hanging over your head or in the back of your mind.”
Notes: Canada’s Justin Kripps and Jesse Lumsden turned around a season to forget Sunday by winning silver at the world bobsled championships in Konigssee, Germany. Kripps and Lumsden stopped the clock in three minutes, 17.91 seconds over four runs. They finished 1.2 seconds behind Germany’s Francesco Friedrich and Thorsten Margis. Johannes Lochner and Joshua Bluhm, also of Germany, claimed bronze. …. Canada’s Mikael Kingsbury won his second World Cup event of the weekend Sunday with a victory in the dual moguls in Tazawako, Japan.