Spencer is feeling the weight of the world in her bid to improve luge results

WHISTLER – Jenna Spencer is a young woman of contradiction. The fi rst legacy baby of the 2010 Olympics and the Whistler Sliding Centre can be “super excited” about racing the fi rst luge Junior World Cup at home this week, then moments later admit to feeling “terrible” about it. “I just feel so much pressure and I’m mostly putting it on myself,” says the 18- year- old from Pemberton, who was a surprising second overall in the Youth A division of the World Cup circuit in 2012- 2013 but who struggled in Junior last season. “I need to make this more fun than about results. Once I make it more fun for myself, once I start sliding for myself instead of others, then this will be a good experience.” A high school graduate in the spring, the personable and well- spoken Spencer has long- term goals in the sport and has put post- secondary education on hold, yet says she really wishes she was in school because she loves learning. She also despairs about the size disadvantage she faces when racing against bigger girls from Germany and Russia. Sliding feet fi rst down an icy chute is one of the ultimate thrill sports, but Spencer, who once played soccer and volleyball, says it’s now the only sport she’s into. She went mountain biking once with B. C. teammate Reid Watts and says it was “terrible, it was horrible. He loved it and I’m like ‘ how do you do this all the time?’” A voracious reader – National Geographic is one of her favourites – Spencer is also an artist, specializing in pencil drawings, many of which her parents have hung in their home. “I really enjoy creating and learning, defi nitely my top two,” says Spencer, who frequently runs a hand through her long black hair while perched on a couch in the lounge area of the sliding centre offi ces. “I just fi nished an elephant that has all these graphic designs on the inside. It’s all black and white ink.” Spencer had fi ve top- four fi nishes in Youth A in 2012- 2013, but as a fi rstyear Junior ( ages 17- 20) last season, she cracked the top 10 just once. “It was a leap, it was tough. Being the top Youth A is like being an eighthplace junior. The girls are all older than you and 30 kilos heavier and it’s probably going to be the same jump from junior to senior.” This season, she also has a new junior team coach with Matt McMurray having replaced Robert Fegg. “It’s been a hard transition,” said Spencer, who was 10th out of 15 sliders in a Wednesday training run. “Robert and I worked almost four years together. We were really tightly- knit. “The change has brought good things and bad things. It’s made me change into a diff erent slider, which is good. If you’re the same slider for four years, you’re never going to grow. I’m working on diff erent things that Matt thinks are more important.” The 5- 2 Spencer’s biggest challenge is that, at just 54.8 kilos, she gives away too many kilos to the likes of Germans Saskia Langer ( 75.1 kg) and Jessica Tiebel ( 73.4 kg) and Russian Victoria Demchenko ( 81.9 kg), even with the 10- kilo weight belt she is allowed. “The gap in our weight is such a diff erence. It’s one of the reasons I’m being left behind. Being so small is not helpful. It’s a big diff erence ( on the push) at the start.” Spencer says it’s frustrating because at 18, “who knows if this is going to get better. “I really do want to put on weight, but I have a really hard time. My body, I shed weight. And when I get stressed, it’s even more. Usually I’m 57 ( kilos) and now I’m 54. I lost weight because of this World Cup. I’m losing my mind over it.”