A light 1st U.S. in the darkness: singles luge medal
DAEGWALLYEONG, South Korea — Chris Mazdzer slid down a track slick with snow, through air so cold it hurt, and into the lights of the cameras stationed precisely to capture an iconic Olympic moment.
By the time the glaring lights hit him, he knew what the horde of American admirers draped over the fence knew: He had become the first American man to win an Olympic medal in singles luge. He ended up with silver, just behind surprise winner David Gleierscher of Austria.
“It’s crazy,” Mazdzer said. “Everything’s the same until you come up that fourth run. You’ve been working your entire life for it. It’s awesome to share that with everyone.”
He tore off his face mask, forgot to undo his neck strap, leaped off the track and hurtled around a volunteer toward his cheering section. Even on a frigid, snowy Sunday night, that section was full of friends and family and teammates.
The charismatic Mazdzer has become something of a sensation, a cheerful, vocal veteran with a winning smile. But he was never supposed to be the one to end this drought.
While the American men were expected to make something of a push for their first singles medal, it was supposed to be Tucker West who challenged the podium. But West struggled all weekend and did not qualify for the final run.
Mazdzer, meantime, had not even climbed a World Cup podium in two years. The 29-year-old is in his third Olympics. He finished 13th in Sochi and had struggled lately, with equipment and confidence and everything in between. On Jan. 21, the active social media man posted a picture of himself looking distraught, followed by a few hundred words about his struggles.
“There is a light somewhere in this dark cave that I feel like I am stumbling through,” said Mazdzer, who made some equipment changes that helped him to a better result in his last pre-Olympic race.
When he arrived, he saw some hope in the fact that he is one of the few sliders who favors these frigid conditions and this rock-hard ice. For two runs Saturday, he navigated a track that terrorized many, finishing his first two runs in fourth place, a tenth of a second off the podium. On Saturday night, still buzzing from the rush, he sat down and turned to fellow singles racer Taylor Morris.
“He said, ‘This is doable. I can do this,’ ” Morris said. “And I was like, ‘You can absolutely do this.’ ”
Then he did. Propelled by what might just be the most pivotal run in the history of American men’s luge — a nearly perfect third run that vaulted him into podium position — Mazdzer outlasted a track that undid the favorites. He finished three hundredths of a second from a gold medal. “I don’t even care,” Mazdzer said. Just a few weeks ago, Mazdzer felt years and miles and a few thousand gallons of confidence from the last time he had climbed a medal podium. On that darkest of his luging days, he said, he never could have expected what was coming next.
“This,” Mazdzer said, “is a blinding light at the end of the tunnel.”