Edney personifies Olympic spirit

I covered many Canadian medalwinning moments here — some were expected, some were a surprise and all were courageously fought for and well deserved. But the memory that will stick with me far longer than any of those was being at the sliding track on a cold and windy night.

The snow had just started falling as Sam Edney tried to find the words to sum up a career that had spanned more than half his life — and had just ended without an Olympic medal in men’s luge.

“It was an awesome career, I’m really proud of the steps that I’ve made and the program’s made and it’s been a really enjoyable, really amazing experience but . . .” he said, leaving that sentence unfinished.

A single tear rolled down his left cheek. It’s hard to put into words how hard an athlete like Edney has worked in a sport with no money and no glory. To most Canadians mentioning luge elicits a quizzical look: Is that the feet first one?

But for Edney, now 33, this has been the focal point of his life since he was 14 years old. He was on the World Cup circuit for more than a decade and represented Canada at three Olympics before he ever hit the podium in this sport that is so competitive it’s timed to the thousandth of a second.

A year ago, he slid to a bronze medal on this track at the test event. So here, at his fourth and final Winter Games, he knew he had the ability to win an Olympic medal. He was ninth after the first run, fifth after the second and if he had two more consistent runs and, a little luck, he could have achieved a Canadian first and stepped onto an Olympic podium in men’s luge. But that didn’t happen. On run three he had one bad corner and couldn’t close the gap on run four and finished sixth.

On that final run, Germany’s twotime Olympic champion dropped from first to fifth and an Austrian who had never even won a World Cup luge medal took gold.

Edney knew it could have been him on the podium and that was the heartbreak he was dealing with in that moment.

That, far more than winning, sums up what it means to be an Olympic athlete. Most athletes here don’t win.

“I felt a bit tight on the sled,” he said, trying to be clinical about his performance but clearly emotional. “I’ll probably go back and try and wonder what was going on in that third run and replay it, and wish I could have another chance at it.”

That’s the thought he left the track with that night. But, as proof that sometimes good things really do happen to good people, he came back four nights later and, with his decade-long teammates, won an Olympic silver medal in team relay.