Ian Cockerline Posts Best European Result of His Career as Lone Athlete to Represent Canada
-Germany forces protes
Cockerline, a 19-year-old from Calgary, took to the ice in the first World Cup luge event of 2004, and posted a two-run time of 1:53.235.
Late last night, the German team won a protest to scrap the results of Friday's qualification run, in which four Canadians qualified for today's event. This morning, after a snowfall delay, the qualification run was repeated and only Cockerline finished high enough to slide in the World Cup.
"I'm pretty happy with my result today. I was sliding consistently all week, which sure paid off after having to run in the qualifications twice," said Cockerline, who is trying to equal his top-15 World Cup result in Calgary, on one of the European tracks. "I felt a little lonely up at the start hut, but I'm motivated to keep getting better and I put down two solid runs today."
Two generations of German luge athletes won the gold and silver medals today. Georg Hackl, the 37-year-old, five-time Olympian, came first in a time of 1:51.211. He was followed, in the silver medal position, by his young teammate, 22-year-old David Möller, in 1:51.488. The bronze medal was won by the world's number one ranked luge athlete, Armin Zöggeler (1:51.887) of Italy.
In Nations Cup action at Winterberg, Madison Dupuis of Calgary finished third in a time of 47.489. The 16-year-old has been competing in both World Cup and Nations Cup events this season.
The Winterberg stop on the Viessmann Luge World Cup continues on Sunday with the men's doubles and women's singles events. Competing for Canada in the men's doubles are veterans Grant Albrecht, of Red Deer, Alta., and Eric Pothier, of Airdrie, Alta., and the Calgarian team of Sam Edney and Gwyn Lewis. The women's race will be run by Red Deer, Alta. native Regan Lauscher and Regina's Meaghan Simister.
MEN'S SINGLES RESULTS:
| Rank | Country | Name | Time |
| 1 | Germany | Georg Hackl | 1:51.211 |
| 2 | Germany | David Möller | 1:51.488 |
| 3 | Italy | Armin Zöggeler | 1:51.887 |
| 4 | Italy | Reinhold Rainer | 1:51.917 |
| 5 | Latvia | Guntis Rekis | 1:51.935 |
| 6 | Austria | Markus Kleinheinz | 1:52.066 |
| 7 | Germany | Patrick Dietzsch | 1:52.079 |
| 8 | USA | Tony Benshoof | 1:52.144 |
| 9 | Germany | Jan Eichhorn | 1:52.181 |
| 10 | Slovakia | Jaroslav Slavik | 1:52.193 |
| 21 | Canada | Ian Cockerline | 1:53.235 |
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.