Marlene Vierboom Looks to Connect with Luge Family at World Champs
Signing on as a luge volunteer, Marlene Vierboom threw herself into the first assignment.
Armed with the appropriate gadget, she began to measure the pre-race temperatures of the steel runners of the sleds at a Canada Olympic Park event in Calgary. After all, heated steel is an advantage — and an illegal one. So, she merrily worked her way around the start area getting readings.
"It was kind of fun because I got to chat with all the coaches, wander around in the back, keep things calm," says Vierboom. "They wanted someone friendly doing that."
This low-key introduction to luge officiating took place in 1992.
She found the whole enterprise fascinating — and, immediately, she excelled at it.
"I worked my way up to other roles," such as weighing sleds and racers," says Vierboom. "There's a progression."
In the decades since, she has ably handled posts of increasing responsibility and expertise — start leader, finish leader, race director, jury member and, the ultimate, jury chairperson.
For the 2025 FIL World Championships in Whistler, B.C., Feb. 6-8, Vierboom serves as jury chairperson. There is no higher power on site. The three-person jury, over which she presides, rules on all protests and disputes. Her team's decisions are final.
"A very prestigious position," says Vierboom. "I'm super excited. It's a great opportunity for me as an official."
But it's certainly not a stretch for the Calgary native. Her résumé is crammed with achievements.
Vierboom, who worked as assistant race director at the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver and race director at the 2013 World Championships, was one of the first women to ascend to the upper reaches of luge officiating. "A very male-dominated field, but it's changed big-time now," she says. "The first 10, 20 years I was in luge, I was an anomaly. I think Luge Canada was a pioneer for women race directors, for sure."
She's been sent to large-scale events in Winterburg and Oberhof, Germany, as well as Lake Placid, N.Y.
Currently chairperson of Luge Canada's officials committee, she has revamped the training program for officials. "And I continue to make it better," says Vierboom, whose university degree includes a minor in adult education.
In addition to being an FIL proctor — meaning she's certified to teach the international level of officiating — she's vice-president of operations for the Alberta Luge Association "because," as she explains, "I want to feed the pipeline. I want to get more athletes, work with organizations to get more athletes into this sport."
Vierboom's remarkable contributions to the sport have not gone unnoticed.
This past summer, she received the FIL Silver Medal of Honour for dedicated volunteer service. "That was huge to me," she says. "I feel very honoured and humbled ... that I had a role to play in advancing the sport over the last 30 years. I was as pleased as punch."
The recognition hardly stands as a farewell thank-you.
Vierboom expects to stay put — and stay busy — for another 10 years.
"I want to be an official — it's still my calling," she says. "If I feel that I'm losing that passion or enthusiasm, I'll find something else to do. But it's still there after all these years. It's awesome. It's fun."
For Vierboom, there's another reason to stick around — the sport's emergence. "We're trying to raise the profile and make it exciting for people to watch. I want to continue to see it advance. Luge is the fastest sport on ice — a lot of people don't know that."
To this point already it's added up to quite an adventure.
Never a slider herself, Vierboom did have a brother, Don, who was the Canadian natural luge champion as well as president of the national luge association. And when one of her roommates, Bob Gasper, raced at the 1988 Olympics in Calgary, she made sure to nab tickets.
"I got exposed to luge through that," she says. "I got a chance to see it firsthand and cheer him on. I got really excited about the sport."
Ever since, year after year, that devotion has remained strong. For her, the community's pull is real.
"This is my winter family," says Vierboom. "The officials, the kids, the parents, Luge Canada, the international organization, it's a family environment. You get to see those friends and family every season. You re-connect. I find what's really rewarding is the people at all levels of luge. People you haven't seen in six months, it's like you saw them yesterday.
"It's that whole sense of family, working together as a team, putting on a fair competition for the athletes, and a safe one."
And that, according to Vierboom, is the motivation for serving as an official — to ensure optimum conditions for all lugers. "I always say, 'It's not about us. It's about the athletes.'"
She sees volunteering as a way to have an impact on the community, as a way to increase her technical knowledge, as a way to experience the winter wonderland of this country.
"I love working races," says Vierboom. "I love the whole race environment, the people, the timing, the sounds. I like being outside for several hours at a time. There's nothing better."