Sliding into the Hall of Fame
To become an elite — and history-making — performer, Alex Gough embraced an approach that propelled her towards the top of the world rankings.
Committed to preparation, fearless under pressure, fiercely competitive.
Yes, all of of those elements became critical ingredients in Gough's athletic recipe.
Yet, winter after winter, something else tipped the balance in favour of the Calgarian luger.
"My biggest successes came when I just enjoyed the sport and had fun," says Gough. "What’s the point of putting your body and brain under all that stress if you’re not having fun while you’re doing it?”
That upbeat mindset carried her for seasons — and, six years after retiring, she continues to deserve headlines.
Gough recently learned that she will be inducted into the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame.
The Class of 2025 is rich — Brady Leman (alpine skiing), Brian and Robin McKeever (Para nordic skiing), Clara Hughes (speed skating and cycling), Ross Norton (wheelchair basketball), Viviane Forest (Paralympic athlete), Dianne Greenough (cheerleading builder), Hugh Hoyles (volleyball builder), Les Gramantik (athletics builder), Red Deer College Queens (volleyball, 1981-89), Arnie Jackson (Bell Memorial Award), and George Hopkins and Dwayne Mandrusiak (Achievement Award).
“To be recognized, along with such a distinguished group, is an incredible honour," says Gough. “I’m incredibly humbled."
Being honoured by the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame is the latest addition to her string of precedent-setting achievements. Trailblazing defines the most decorated luger in Canadian history.
While rattling off personal benchmarks – first medal at the World Championships, first World Cup podium, first World Cup gold, and, of course, first Olympic medal – she had been establishing luge standards in this country.
But becoming a focal point was never a goal.
“It was more like a passion, and I was fortunate enough to make a career out of it," says Gough, currently president of Luge Canada. “But I recognize where my accomplishments land and I sort of led the way in terms of putting luge on the map and in the spotlight for Canada … and being one of the first Canadians to really compete at the top end.
"I was more internally driven to see at what level I could compete and how far I could push the envelope. So, this kind of recognition, it’s nice.”
Not only is she a pioneer, Gough is a role model. When national-team peer Sam Edney retired, he credited her for leading the way, for inspiring his own journey in luge – even though he's three years older than her. “Alex’s success was a breakout moment for our team," Edney said that day. "It showed we were doing the right things and gave all Canadian luge athletes the belief we, too, can win a medal."
And while she had no luging heroes of her own, she was not without role models, including elite performers in other pursuits.
Gough gives shout-outs to the likes of Clara Hughes, Brady Leman, Helen Upperton, Mellisa Hollingsworth, Lindsay Alcock. "It was watching all of them train and have success and wanting to experience that in my own sport," she says. "I took inspiration from them, just little things they did or stories from their experiences that I would internalize and take forward. I was privileged to be surrounded by so many great athletes."
These days, Canadian lugers, from high-performance mainstays to up-and-comers to future sliders, do have access to a tremendous in-house resource. Gough, after all, drew the blueprint – one that resulted in 27 individual and 16 team-relay World Cup medals, two individual and four team-relay World Championship medals, in addition to two medals at the 2018 Olympics.
Highlighted on her résumé? Doing the unthinkable in 2011 – triumphing at a World Cup event to halt the Germans' winning streak at 105 races. This moment, too, she is able to put into perspective. “Dynasties can be intimidating, so it's just remembering that they’re human, too, that they train the same way we do," she says. "So, if you trust the process you’ll get there."
But even a history-maker needs to start somewhere – in Gough's case, it was as a curious 13-year-old in Calgary. To the luge track at WinSport, the kid brought basic experience in ski-racing. Careening down an icy chute, however, turned out to be something entirely different.
"For anyone who loves speed, it’s like a mix of tobogganing and water slides, and maybe mountain biking in terms of the way you have to pick lines and make the pressures in the corner work for you," says Gough. “But of all the sports I’ve done, I don’t think anything quite compares.”
Which is the message that Luge Canada wants to convey as it endeavours to raise the profile of the sport and increase participation through its #JustSlide campaign. Seeing Gough – president of the national body and one of the household names in the sport – inducted into the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame will surely provide a boost.
“I hope it will do that," she says. “We want to inspire the next generation to check out the sport, to see what it’s like, to get involved. That would be a great outcome for the (Hall of Fame) recognition.”
