Canadian Luge Association – WINTERBERG, Ger.—Kim McRae knows the work she needs to do over the off-season to be in the medal mix following a disappointing 14th-place finish in women’s singles racing at the Luge World Championships on Saturday.

 

The 26-year-old Calgarian clocked a two-run time of 1:55.089 on the 15-corner track in Winterberg, Germany.

“It was a tough race day. I came into the day wanting decent starts and clean runs, but overall this week has been a tough one with inconsistent training that led to an inconsistent race,” said the fifth-place finisher at the last two Olympic Winter Games and one of two Canadians ever to win a World Championship medal in singles luge.

McRae was fighting from behind right out of the gate following a mistake at the start of her first run.

“That mistake put behind off the bat, but it helped me push for more speed on the straightaway. I was happy sitting in 10th after the first run,” said McRae.

“I was wanting to move up by fixing the start in the second run. I did have a good start but I made an error out of corner 13 in the bottom part of the track which scrubbed a few tenths (off my time). This result shows I have work to do, but it makes sense as I am trying to do both school and sport.”

Dropping four spots in the standings, McRae was left watching the Germans celebrate the gold and silver medal on their home track. Natalie Geisenberger was fastest in both runs, winning with a time of 1:53.868. Julia Taubitz hung on for the silver at 1:54.293.

Emily Sweeney, of the United States, snuck onto the podium to take the bronze with a time of 1:54.381.

Focusing the development of the next generation, Canada’s 16-year-old Trinity Ellis competed in her first elite race at the international level. The Pemberton, B.C. resident did not qualify for the final heat with the top-20 athletes after clocking the 29th-fastest time of the opening run.

Tristan Walker and Justin Snith were the lone Canadian sled in the doubles race but were disqualified for being overweight.

The Germans also won gold and silver in doubles. Toni Eggert and Sascha Benecken finished first at 1:27.256. Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt were second at 1:27.334.

Austria’s Thomas Steu and Lorenze Koller teamed up for third place with a time of 1:27.397.

The Luge World Championships continue on Sunday with the men’s singles and team relay competitions.

Complete Women’s Singles Results: https://www.fil-luge.org/cdn/uploads/rl2wchwomen-2.pdf

Complete Doubles Results: https://www.fil-luge.org/cdn/uploads/rl2wchdoubles-2.pdf

The Canadian Luge Association is a not-for-profit organization responsible for governing the sport of luge across the country. With the financial backing of from the Government of Canada, Canadian Olympic Committee and Own the Podium, the Canadian Luge Association safely recruits and develops the nation’s current and future high-performance luge athletes with the goal of regularly climbing onto the international podium. For more information on the Canadian Luge Association, please visit us at www.luge.ca on the Internet.

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Chris Dornan

Media and Public Relations

Canadian Luge Association

T: 403-620-8731