Canadians Edney and Lewis Capture Silver Medal at World Junior Luge Championships
-Simister posts top-10 to lead C
Both Lewis and Edney have been competing on the senior World Cup circuit this season and returned home to Calgary to slide with athletes their own age. They sat fifth after the first run, then blasted down the Olympic Track in 46.33 seconds and finished in second place (1:29.605).
"After our first time down, we were really focused on letting the sled run and we knew we could pull it out and go faster on our home track," said Edney, who will also slide in the singles event tomorrow. "It felt good to finish the day with that kind of result and I'm hoping to lay down another strong one tomorrow in the singles event."
Two other young Canadian teams were defending their home track, including Marshall Savill and Winston Davis, both of Calgary, who finished in 10th spot in a time of 1:30.749. Cameron Gunn and Devon Gell, also posted a strong result in their first World Championship finishing 13th (1:31.609).
First place went to Austria's Peter Penz and Georg Fischler in a time of 1:29.502. The other team on the podium was the German duo of Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt, who posted a finish time of 1:29.617, to take the bronze medal.
In women's doubles action, Meaghan Simister, of Regina, finished the day in 10th place after a two-run time of 1:30.701. Three other Canadian women suited up today, including Calgary's Madison Dupuis in 11th (1:30.794); Alex Gough, of Calgary, who finished 20th (1:31.609) and Amanda Byrne, of Calgary, who did not start her second run, after a crash in the last corner of her first descent.
"I can't ask for much more, I had two clean runs and I guess they just weren't as fast as they had to be today," said Simister, the 17-year-old who has posted three top-15 results on the senior World Cup this season. "I let myself relax on the second run which is really important to do on this track and that helped my time a bit."
15-year-old Nat Geisenberger, of Germany, won today's women's race with a two-run time of 1:29.797. Austria's Nina Reithmayer was not far off the pace in 1:29.908, and captured the silver medal. The last podium spot went to Germany's Corinna Martini, who posted a time of 1:29.967
In senior World Cup action today, Jeff Christie was the lone Canadian to compete at the Viessmann Luge World Cup event in Konigssee, Germany. He placed 24th with a two-run time of 1:36.706.
The World Junior Luge Championships will continue in Calgary on Sunday with the men's singles and team events. Sam Edney will return for the men's singles event along with Ian Cockerline, 19, and fellow Calgarians Matt McMurray, 19, and reigning Canadian champion, Matt Babinec, 16.
MEN'S DOUBLES RESULTS:
| Rank | Country | Name | Time |
| 1 | Austria | Penz/Fischler | 1:29.502 |
| 2 | Canada | Edney/Lewis | 1:29.605 |
| 3 | Germany | Wendl/Arlt | 1:29.617 |
| 4 | Germany | Gerner/Weise | 1:29.617 |
| 5 | USA | Mortensen/Thorne | 1:29.914 |
| 6 | Italy | Fischnaller/Prinoth | 1:29.977 |
| 7 | USA | Griffall/Joye | 1:29.994 |
| 8 | Russia | Nevmerjitski/Prokorov | 1:30.200 |
| 9 | Germany | Stielicke/Pelzer | 1:30.241 |
| 10 | Canada | Savill/Davis | 1:30.749 |
| 13 | Canada | Gunn/Gell | 1:31.924 |
WOMEN'S SINGLES RESULTS:
| Rank | Country | Name | Time |
| 1 | Germany | Nat Geisenberger | 1:29.797 |
| 2 | Austria | Nina Reithmayer | 1:29.908 |
| 3 | Germany | Corinna Martini | 1:29.967 |
| 4 | Germany | Astrid Scharfe | 1:30.188 |
| 5 | Switzerland | Martina Kocher | 1:30.211 |
| 6 | Germany | Steffi Kappen | 1:30.244 |
| 7 | USA | Erin Hamlin | 1:30.406 |
| 8 | USA | Samantha Retrosi | 1:30.518 |
| 9 | Slovakia | Roman Novakova | 1:30.638 |
| 10 | Canada | Meaghan Simister | 1:30.701 |
| 11 | Canada | Madison Dupuis | 1:30.794 |
| 20 | Canada | Alex Gough | 1:31.609 |
| DNF | Canada | Amanda Byrne | N/A |
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.