 West in 2018 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nationality | American | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | June 15, 1995 Ridgefield, United States | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 0.5 in (184 cm) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 195 lb (88 kg) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Country | United States | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Luge | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Event | Singles | ||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Tucker West (born June 15, 1995) is an American luger who, at the age of 18, was the youngest male ever to qualify to represent the United States in the men's luge at the Olympics. West placed 22nd in the men's single competition at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. [1] [2]
West attended National Sports Academy High in Lake Placid, New York. [3] [4] Before going away to school he was a resident of Ridgefield, Connecticut. When West was a boy, his father designed and built a wood luge track in the backyard of their Ridgefield home. [5] West attends Union College in Schenectady, New York. [6]
Before making the ten-member Sochi squad, West was the co-champion of the 2012 U.S luge singles title with Chris Mazdzer, a U.S junior silver medalist, and a silver medalist at the 2011 World Cup in Austria.
On December 5, 2014, West won the 2014–15 Luge World Cup men's singles race in Lake Placid. This win made him the first American to be victorious in a men's singles world cup event since Wendel Suckow on February 15, 1997. [7]
On December 4, 2015, West finished second in the same men's singles Luge World Cup event to his teammate Chris Mazdzer in the first-ever one-two finish for the United States in a men's singles Luge World Cup event. [8]
On December 2, 2016, West was triumphant for a second time, again winning the 2016-17 Luge World Cup men's singles race in Lake Placid, this time besting the second-place slider, Semen Pavlichenko of Russia, by only 0.006 seconds for a time of 1:43.088. [9] Then the following week at the next stop on the tour in Whistler, British Columbia, he won the men's singles event again for back-to-back victories on the circuit. [10]
On December 15, 2017, West placed third, taking the bronze with a combined time of 1:42:226 at the Lake Placid stop on the 2017-18 Luge World Cup circuit and in doing so, secured himself a spot on the United States squad to compete at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang County, South Korea. He came in third in the Mount Van Hoevenberg event after two Russian sliders who placed first and second, respectively, Roman Repilov and Semen Pavlichenko. West briefly broke his own track record in winning the first run with a time of 50.94 seconds, but, in turn, his new record was bested in the second run by Replilov's 50.85 time (the new standing mark for the track). [11] [12]
He competed at the 2024 FIL World Luge Championships and won a silver medal in the team relay. [13]
A luge is a small one- or two-person sled on which one sleds supine (face-up) and feet-first. A luger begins seated, propelling themselves initially from handles on either side of the start ramp, then steers by using the calf muscles to flex the sled's runners or by exerting opposite shoulder pressure to the pod. Racing sleds weigh 21–25 kg (46–55 lb) for singles and 25–30 kg (55–66 lb) for doubles. Luge is also the name of an Olympic sport that employs that sled and technique.
Armin Zöggeler OMRI is a retired Italian luger and double Olympic champion. He is one of the most successful men in the sport, nicknamed Il Cannibale, for his notable series of victories, or The Iceblood Champion, for his always cold, rational approach to the races. Fellow luger Tucker West described Zöggeler as the sport's equivalent of Michael Jordan.
Antony Lee "Tony" Benshoof is an American luger from White Bear Lake, Minnesota who has been competing since 1990. He won three medals in the mixed team event at the FIL World Luge Championships with two silvers and one bronze (2001).
The FIL World Luge Championships, part of the International Luge Federation (FIL) have taken place on an almost annual basis in non-Winter Olympics years since 1955. These championships are shown for artificial tracks. See FIL World Luge Natural Track Championships for all natural track events that have taken place since 1979.
The International Luge Federation is the main international federation for all luge sports. Founded by 13 nations at Davos, Switzerland in 1957, it has members of 53 national luge associations as of 2009 and is based in Berchtesgaden, Germany. In reaction to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, in March 2022 the FIL banned all Russian athletes, coaches, and officials from its events, suspended all Russian officials appointed to its Commissions and Working Groups, and deemed Russia ineligible to host any of its events.
Anton Winkler was a West German luger who competed during the late 1970s and early 1980s. He won the bronze medal in the men's singles event at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York.
Susi-Lisa Erdmann is an East German-German luger and bobsledder who competed from 1977 to 1998 in luge, then since 1999 in bobsleigh. She was born in Blankenburg, Bezirk Magdeburg. Competing in five Winter Olympics, she won two medals in the women's singles luge event with a silver in 1994 and a bronze in 1992, and a bronze at the inaugural two-women bobsleigh event in 2002. She is one of only two people to ever win a medal in both bobsleigh and luge at the Winter Olympics; Italy's Gerda Weissensteiner is the other.
Erin Mullady Hamlin is a four-time Olympian and the first female American luger to medal at any Winter Olympics, as well as the first American of either gender to medal in luge singles competition and the first non-European woman to take an Olympic medal in luge. She took the singles bronze medal in Sochi's 2014 Winter Olympics, something the Associated Press called "a feat that will surely go down as perhaps the greatest moment in USA Luge history".
The Mt. Van Hoevenberg Olympic Bobsled Run is a venue for bobsleigh, luge and skeleton in the United States, located at the Lake Placid Olympic Sports Complex in Lake Placid, New York. This venue was used for the 1932 and 1980 Winter Olympics and for the only winter Goodwill Games in 2000. The track hosted both the first FIBT World Championships and FIL World Luge Championships held outside of Europe, doing so in 1949 and 1983. The third and most recent version of the track was completed in 2000. In 2010 the bobsled track was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Tobias Arlt is a German luger, acting as a backdriver. He won a silver medal in the men's doubles event at the 2008 FIL World Luge Championships, a silver and a bronze at the 2010 FIL European Luge Championships, a gold medal at the FIL World Luge Championships 2013, and two gold medals at his debut Olympics, the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.
The Whistler Sliding Centre is a Canadian bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track located in Whistler, British Columbia, that is 125 km (78 mi) north of Vancouver. The centre is part of the Whistler Blackcomb resort, which comprises two ski mountains separated by Fitzsimmons Creek. Located on the lowermost slope of the northern mountain, Whistler Sliding Centre hosted the bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton competitions for the 2010 Winter Olympics.
Johannes Ludwig is an Olympic gold medal-winning German luger who has competed since 1996. He won a bronze medal in the Team relay event at the FIL European Luge Championships 2010 in Sigulda. At the 2018 Winter Olympics, held in Pyeongchang, South Korea, Ludwig won the bronze medal in the men's singles luge and the gold in the team relay luge, along with his teammates Natalie Geisenberger, Tobias Wendl, and Tobias Arlt. Then at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, he won the gold medal in the Men's singles race.
Wolfgang Kindl is an Austrian world champion luger who has competed since 2007.
Paul Ifrim is a Romanian luger who has competed since 2004. His best finish at the FIL World Luge Championships was 16th in the men's doubles event at Lake Placid, New York in 2009.
Christopher Mazdzer is an American luger. He competed at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, finishing 13th on both occasions. At the 2018 Winter Olympics Mazdzer won the silver medal in the Men's Single Luge, becoming the first U.S. men's singles luge medalist and the first and currently only non-European to win a medal in that event.
Aidan Kelly is an American slider who raced for the United States in the men's luge singles event at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. He was the 2013 Norton junior U.S.A champion. Kelly resides in West Islip, New York. Kelly attended National Sports Academy in Lake Placid, New York. He graduated top of his class in 2012 while he also trained at the U.S. Olympic Training Center also in Lake Placid, .
The men's luge at the 2014 Winter Olympics was held between 8–9 February 2014 at the Sliding Center Sanki in Rzhanaya Polyana, Russia. Germany's Felix Loch was the two-time defending world champion and won the gold medal with the fastest time in two of the four runs. The test event that took place at the venue was won by Germany's Andi Langenhan. Loch was also the defending Olympic champion.
Roman Alexandrovich Repilov is a Russian luger.
The men's luge at the 2018 Winter Olympics was held between 10 and 11 February 2018 at the Alpensia Sliding Centre near Pyeongchang, South Korea.
Julia Taubitz is a German luger.
Youth Olympic champions in Luge – mixed team relay | |
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