Two Canadian Sleds Finish in Top-15 on Luge World Cup

ALTENBERG, Ger.—Two sleds on the Canadian Luge Team grabbed spots in the top-15, while a Canadian teenager enjoyed a promising start to her World Cup career on Saturday.

Devin Wardrope and Cole Zajanski, matched a 13th-place result they had two years ago in their World Cup debut on the challenging 15-corner Altenberg track. The Calgary-based duo combined two decent starts, with two solid runs for a total time of 1:25.916.

“I think we still have some work to do to have clean and consistent runs, but overall, there is good promise looking into future races here in Altenberg,” said head coach Robert Fegg.

Germany’s Toni Eggert and Sascha Benecken won with a time of 1:24.158. Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt clocked second-place times in both heats to claim the silver at 1:24.224. The bronze went to Latvia’s Martins Bots and Roberts Plume at 1:24.376.

Trinity Ellis led a four-pack of Canucks into the women’s race on a 1,220-metre chute of ice that threw everything the young Canadians could handle

The calm and composed 20-year-old Ellis from Pemberton, B.C. grabbed the final spot in the top-15 with a two-run time of 1:47.293.

Canada’s Embry-Lee Susko made a solid World Cup debut on Saturday at one of the toughest stops on the World Cup circuit.

The 17-year-old matched her age on the track with a time of 1:47.356.

“My first World Cup was so much fun, and it was so amazing to be surrounded by so many incredible athletes,” said the young slider from Whistler, B.C. “I was stoked to have been able to put together two clean runs on this track.”

“Trinity and Embyr had a good race with consistent runs,” added coach Fegg. “That is an impressive debut for Embyr. We have some training coming up on the 2024 World Championship track (in Altenberg, Germany) next week and that will give plenty of chances for the entire team to continue to improve.”

The Germans swept the women’s podium. Julia Taubitz celebrated the gold with a time of 1:45.727. Anna Berreiter claimed the silver medal at 1:46.034, while Dajana Eitberger locked up the bronze medal with a time of 1:46.057.

Two other Canadian women continued their development in Altenberg. Caitlin Nash, of Whistler, B.C., slid to 23rd at 1:48.192. Calgary’s Carolyn Maxwell was 24th at 1:48.413.

Complete Results from the Eberspächer Luge World Cup

The Canadian Luge Association is a not-for-profit organization responsible for governing the sport of luge across the country. With the financial backing of from the Government of Canada, Canadian Olympic Committee and Own the Podium, the Canadian Luge Association safely recruits and develops the nation’s current and future high-performance luge athletes with the goal of regularly climbing onto the international podium. For more information on the Canadian Luge Association, please visit us at www.luge.ca on the Internet.