Canada wins luge team relay World Cup silver in Altenberg
Feature photo: Kimberley McRae in the women’s competition
Canada continued to show newfound momentum in luge on Sunday with a World Cup medal in Altenberg, Germany in the team relay.
The silver for Canada came two weeks after a FIL world championship bronze in Konigssee in the same event. One notable difference in Altenberg is that the team slid on to the podium without six-time world championship medallist Alex Gough.
Kim McRae took Gough’s spot in the women’s sled for the World Cup relay, where the Canadians with a time of two minutes, 24.550 seconds finished second to Germany (2:24.204) and ahead of Latvia (2:24.982).
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As they had in Konigssee, Mitch Malyk carried the men’s individual sled, while the team of Tristan Walker and Justin Snith took the silver medal-winning final run in the doubles portion.
It’s the first World Cup medal of the season for McRae, Malyk, Walker and Snith in a season where podiums have been difficult to reach for Canadians. For McRae, it was also a career-first podium in the relay.
The second duo from left, Tristan Walker and Justin Snith just off the Luge World Cup doubles podium after fifth place in Calgary on December 18, 2015.
Gough, who is racing part time while going to university this season, has the only individual Canadian World Cup medal in the 2015-16 calendar, a bronze that came in Igls, Austria at the opening event in November.
Staying in Germany, the World Cup tour heads to its final spot, Winterberg, next weekend.
