LILLEHAMMER, Nor.—Canada’s luge tandem of Devin Wardrope and Cole Zajanski opened the critical pre-Olympic Luge World Cup season with a 13th-place finish in men’s doubles sliding.
The Calgary-based sliders were left searching for more while fighting to find the perfect line in both runs down the 11-corner track in Lillehammer, Norway, clocking a two-run time of 1:34.730.
“Over the week we pretty inconsistent with our lines and even though we made progress, we still have a way to go to be where we want to be,” said the 22-year-old Wardrope. “Going into next week, we need to continue focusing on the fundamentals, get the lines under control, and the speed will come.”
Wardrope and his 23-year-old teammate, Zajanski, finished in the middle of the pack in their two blasts down the chute at Norway’s Olympic Park. Sitting in 12h place after their first blast, the Canadian duo dropped one spot after their final heat while clocking speeds up to 120 kilometres/hour.
“Thirteenth is not where we want to be coming into the year, but we did make some big improvements on the sled over the summer,” added Zajanski. “Going into the first race there’s always some nerves, but after the first run it felt like home. We need to keep working with the goal of being seeded for World Championships in February.”
Germany’s duo of Tobias Wendl and Florian Mueller snagged the first gold medal of the season, posting a winning time of 1:33.846. Latvia’s Martins Bots and Roberts Plume slid to the silver-medal step of the podium with a time of 1:33.978. Austria’s Thomas Steu and Wolfgang Kindl clocked-in at 1:34.070 or third place.
Looking to build off a third-place finish in Friday’s Nation’s Cup qualifying race, Caitlin Nash led a trio of Canucks in the women’s singles race. Nash, who was introduced to luge thanks to the 2010 Olympics being hosted in her backyard in Whistler, B.C., bolted to a topped the 120 kilometre/hour mark in both runs to post a combined time of 1:35.033.
“It was okay – a good start to the World Cup season,” said Nash, who slid to a career-best 13th-place finish at the 2024 World Championships. “I think we definitely need to work on executing in the race a little bit, but it was the first weekend so lots to build on.”
The lone Canadian Olympian in the group, Trinity Ellis of Pemberton, B.C., clocked-in at 1:35.081 for 19th spot. Struggling to find her rhythm all week, Ellis was in 17h spot after the opening heat, but could not find the fast line in her second attempt down the Lillehammer track, dropped a couple of spots.
“I didn’t have very consistent training. There were lots of issues, so I was happy to have two of my best runs today,” said Ellis. “I think we had some of the best ice all week today. There was some hard, cold ice in training. It was a bit warmer today but still super good racing ice. It was not really my best result, but it was okay and something to build on.”
Canada’s Carolyn Maxwell finished just outside the elite group of 20 in the opening heat who qualified for a second run. The Calgarian placed 21st.
Germany’s Julia Taubitz rocketed to the top spot of the women’s singles podium with a time of 1:33.898. American Emily Sweeney took advantage of the best final-run time to celebrate the silver medal at 1:33.990. Austria’s Lisa Schulte hung on for the bronze with a time of 1:34.050.
Complete Results from the Luge World Cup Lillehammer
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