Canada's Jeff Christie Breaks Into Top 12 on Home Ice at Canada Olympic Park
-Young Canucks Cockerline, McMurray p
Calgary's Jeff Christie led the Canadian contingent posting a thrilling second-run time of 45.199 for a two-run total of 1:30.630, less than one second back of the day's leader. Fellow Canadians Ian Cockerline and Matt McMurray, both from Calgary, completed their best-ever senior World Cup results. Cockerline finished in 14th place with a time of 1:30.729, while McMurray finished 17th in 1:30.782.
"My second run was great, I tried to let the sled run and it was great to perform this well in front of a home crowd with so many familiar faces around," said the 20-year-old Christie, whose top-12 finish is one of four needed to qualify for the 2006 Olympic Winter Games. "Being on home ice, you can bet that I wanted to slide well today. There was a lot of pressure, but this race proves that if I put down two solid runs, I can compete with the best in the world."
Germany's David Möller won the event with a combined time of 1:29.664. Italy's Armin Zöggeler, who finished with a combined time of 1:29.777 grabbed second spot on the podium, while Tony Benshoof of the United States captured the last podium spot with a time of 1:29.876.
Earlier in the day, Sam Edney of Calgary, won the Nations Cup event with a time of 45.675. A Canadian squad consisting of Jeff Christie, Regan Lauscher of Red Deer, Alta., Grant Albrecht of Red Deer, Alta. and Eric Pothier of Airdrie, Alta., placed fourth in the team competition.
The Viessmann Luge World Cup continues on Saturday in Calgary with the men's doubles at 9 a.m., and women's singles event at 1 p.m. The women's team will be led by Olympian Regan Lauscher, who returns to World Cup action after missing the first two European events to be in Calgary to complete her semester in school. Three doubles teams will wear the maple leaf on Sunday, including Grant Albrecht and Eric Pothier, who finished fourth last year at this event.
Video highlights for Sunday's events are available with the following satellite coordinates:
Telstar 5 - Transponder 25
MEN'S FINAL RESULTS:
| Rank | Country | Name | Time |
| 1 | Germany | David Möller | 1:29.664 |
| 2 | Italy | Armin Zöggeler | 1:29.777 |
| 3 | USA | Tony Benshoof | 1:29.876 |
| 4 | Germany | Georg Hackl | 1:30.178 |
| 5 | Russia | Albert Demtschenko | 1:30.235 |
| 6 | Switzerland | Stefan Höhener | 1:30.282 |
| 7 | Germany | Denis Geppert | 1:30.324 |
| 8 | Austria | Rainer Margreiter | 1:30.392 |
| 9 | Austria | Markus Kleinheinz | 1:30.418 |
| 10 | Germany | Jan Eichhorn | 1:30.605 |
| 12 | Canada | Jeff Christie | 1:30.630 |
| 14 | Canada | Ian Cockerline | 1:30.729 |
| 17 | Canada | Matt McMurray | 1:30.782 |
The Canadian Luge Associaton is the governing body for luge racing in Canada. In partnership with CODA, the Canadian Luge Association operates the Olympic Luge Training Centre at Canada Olympic Park in Calgary, which develops our nation's high-performance luge athletes and promotes the sport across the country. For more information on the Canadian Luge Association, please visit us at www.luge.ca on the Internet.