Chris Madzder, USA’s only Olympic Luge male medalist, injured

Utah Olympic Park Luge Track. Photo: Photo: Michele Roepke

SOCHI, Russia — Chris Madzder, 33, broke his foot during a luge training run today on the Sochi, Russia Olympic track. Team USA was there sliding in preparation for the 2022 Games in Beijing. Madzder won America’s historic first ever medal by a male athlete, a silver, in the PyeongChang 2018 Games after representing the United States in Vancouver in 2010 and again on the track where his injury occurred, Sochi 2014.

He struck a piece of ice on the track. Luge sleds have no breaks to speak of leaving athletes no recourse if anything unpredicted occurs in the middle of a run.

Madzder told the Associated Press (AP) “I knew something was wrong right away since I couldn’t put any pressure on my foot, and imaging confirmed that I broke my foot in a few places. After investing physically, mentally, and financially for this Olympic year, the game plan changed in just a matter of a few seconds.”

Switching from singles luge to doubles after winning his silver, he slides with his partner Jason Terdiman.

Madzder grew up in Lake Placid honing his sliding skills on America’s only other refrigerated track to Park City. He lives in Salt Lake City keeping him close to Utah’s Olympic Bobsled, Skeleton and Luge Track at the Utah Olympic Park.

The Beijing 2022 Olympics begin this February.