LILLEHAMMER, Norway – With the World Cup luge season set to begin in late November, many of the competing nations, including the United States, are now in Lillehammer, Norway to begin fall preparation at the 1994 Olympic site.
Training runs got underway Friday (Oct. 3) morning.
Sochi bronze medalist Erin Hamlin, of Remsen, N.Y., leads a U.S. contingent that features six recent Olympians. Hamlin has not been down a track since her final run in Russia that clinched the first singles medal in American history. In fairness the three-time Olympian and 2009 World Champion did spend time on her sled during the off season at the U.S. team’s indoor start facility in Lake Placid.
"This is the longest I’ve ever been off a sled," she said. "Hopefully I’ll feel good. I want to get comfortable on the sled again and get back into it. I want to have fun. The ‘having fun’ mindset worked for me in Sochi."
Hamlin will be joined by Vancouver Olympic teammate Julia Clukey, of Augusta, Maine. Clukey was the top American on the World Cup tour two seasons ago, and topped her 2012-2013 campaign with a career-best silver medal in the Lake Placid World Cup. She remains undaunted, however, after not qualifying for Sochi by an agonizing 0.013 of a second at the Park City, Utah World Cup.
"I am excited for the new season and feel really ready. My starts were good over the summer," said Clukey, who has overcome Arnold-Chiari Syndrome. She captured her seventh career indoor start title last month.
Regarding this camp, "I know that Norway tries hard to get the ice ready. I’ll be trying to get a good rhythm for the World Cup season. Sliding is something I love to do and it’s a bonus to be able to do it."
The U.S. men in Lillehammer are two-time Olympian Chris Mazdzer, of Saranac Lake, N.Y., and his Sochi teammate Tucker West, of Ridgefield, Conn.
"After a really productive summer, I am looking forward to getting back on ice," said Mazdzer, 13th in both Olympic appearances, and a team-best fifth in last winter’s World Cup rankings which featured two silver medals. "In the weight room, I set some new personal records for myself and am now 10 pounds heavier than last year."
West has already achieved much in luge at the tender age of 19. He was the youngest American male to qualify for the Olympics; was part of a gold medal in the 2012 Youth Olympic Games team relay; and helped the U.S. to a silver medal in the team relay at the 2014 Junior World Championships.
"As with every year, there are always a ton of nerves that accompany the first day," said West, who is gradually healing a summer wrist injury. "That’s when you can finally see all the hard work you've been doing over the past five months come together. You never really know what to expect, especially when the first day isn't on home turf, but that just makes it that much more fun and exciting.
"The summer in my mind was a huge success. I was able to gain much needed body weight, as well as some more speed and strength. On the technological side of things I'm riding a fairly different setup than what I was on last year. I'm confident in the sled, and hopefully it will run well."
Lillehammer will also mark the international debut of a new U.S. doubles unit. Matt Mortensen and Jayson Terdiman, 2014 Olympians with different teammates, partnered last spring. The twosome placed first and second in a pair of seeding races in Lake Placid. Lillehammer will enable them to add to their total of 17 runs together.
"Lillehammer will feel like a new track, though it’s not new," said Mortensen, of Huntington Station, N.Y. "That’s the effect of a new teammate on an old track. Jayson being smaller gives me more control of the sled. I fit better. I’m better balanced. We fit on the sled like a glove."
"I’m looking forward to getting back on the sled and getting comfortable," added Terdiman, of Berwick, Pa. "From the spring I found that Matt’s a precise driver. He wants to be on line."
The camp will conclude on Oct. 11 with the Lillehammer Cup, a non-World Cup competition that will, nevertheless, give the teams a gauge on their sliding just six weeks prior to the official start of the racing season.
The U.S. will return to Lake Placid on Oct. 12, and will look forward to the opening of their home track on Mount Van Hoevenberg on Oct. 18, weather permitting.
The Norton National Championships will be held there on Nov. 1-2. A World Cup meet is set for the venue on Dec. 5-6.
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