2000 Senior Canadian Championships
Tyler Seitz was once again top Canadian in Men's singles competition followed by Mike Moffat with the silver and last week's Junior Canadian Champion, Jorgen Krause, on the podium again with an upset third place finish in senior competition.
Veteran of many years on the National Team, Deb Bergeson, came out of retirement for a Gold medal performance in Women's singles. Bergeson is a firefighter with the Calgary Fire Department and retired from international competition last season. Regan Lauscher (Red Deer) was just four tenths of a second behind, claiming Silver, and Lindsay Danforth, Canadian Junior I champion, slid to a third place finish at the senior level.
In doubles competition, Chris Moffat and Eric Pothier (Airdrie) won Gold with Grant Albrecht and Mike Moffat winning Silver. Canada's latest doubles team of Ryan Paton and Matt McMurray make their inaugural appearance of the podium with a Bronze medal finish. Bob Gasper, a veteran of three Olympic Games, dazzled the crowd with a first ever mixed doubles team entry paired with former National Team slider, Kristin Dyer.
Masters competition had some past stars showing they can still slide in the big races, including CODA Chairman, Gene Edworthy, who finished an impressive fifth after one run. When the final two run results came in, 41 year old Bob Gasper showed his years of Olympic experience and claimed Gold followed by Mike Lane, a Junior slider on injury rehabilitation in second place, and Dan Brownrigg back from retirement for the Bronze.
Canada's Olympic Luge athletes are now on a two-month break then start their summer training and conditioning program in preparation for next season. For information on how to get started in this high-speed, high performance sport, contact the Olympic Luge Training Centre or Calgary Olympic Development Association.
(Note - all athletes reside in Calgary unless noted otherwise)