Canada's Jeff Christie concludes World Cup season on a strong note
-Canadian luge men's singles leader records per
Christie, who turns 23 on February 2, concluded the 2005-06 Viessmann Luge World Cup tour with his best ever performance, a 12th-place finish, at the sliding venue in Oberhof, Germany, and also recorded his personal best start time in the process.
"I've been having a tough time putting down two good runs all year, so I'm definitely happy with how things went today," said Christie, who was born in Vancouver but called Calgary home for most of his life. "It's a nice way to be going into the Olympics, when you can prove to yourself that you can race consistently. It's better than having any question marks hanging over you."
Christie slid into the 12th-place spot on the strength of a two-heat total of 1:28.653. He was joined on the track by a pair of 21-year-old Calgary natives, Sam Edney and Ian Cockerline, both of who will also be making the Olympic trip to Torino, Italy next month. Edney recorded a 21st-place result via a two-run time of 1:28.942, while Cockerline was 29th with 1:30.421.
Germany's Jan Eichhorn took top spot on the podium with a time of 1:28.054, while his teammate David Moller won the silver medal with a two-run total of 1:28.130. Spoiling a potential German monopoly on the medals podium was Russia's Albert Demtschenko, who slid to the bronze medal with a time of 1:28.175.
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.
For complete results, see www.fil-luge.org
Men's Singles Top-Five Results (31 sleds):
1. Jan Eichhorn, GER, 1:28.054; 2. David Moller, GER, 1:28.130; 3 .Albert Demtschenko, RUS, 1:28.175; 4. Tony Benshoof, USA, 1:28.274; 5. Georg Hackl, GER, 1:28.277.
Canadian Men's Results:
12. Jeff Christie, Vancouver, 1:28.653; 21. Sam Edney, Calgary, 1:28.942; 29. Ian Cockerline, Calgary, 1:30.421.