Local lugers Wingfield, Robinson finish in top spots for the North American Continental Cup

Wasatch Luge Club at the Utah Olympic Park for the FIL // USA Luge North American Continental Cup including race winners Ben Wingfield and Andrew Robinson. Photo: TownLift // Michele Roepke

PARK CITY, Utah — The Luge North American Continental Cup was hosted on Friday and Saturday at the Utah Olympic Park where teenagers from Park City Ben Wingfield and Andrew Robinson took top spots.

Wingfield won first place in the Youth, A, Mens Guest Class, with a combined two-run time of 1:31.658 and a speed of more than 70 miles per hour.

Robinson’s first place was in the Youth, A, Mens Class and his combined time from the two runs was 1:30.808, also at more than 70 mph.

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Both boys attend school at the Silver Summit Academy, the principal of which which is the father of another Park City luge athlete who is currently representing the USA in Europe on the World Cup Circuit.

The Principal of the Park City High School was volunteering at the UOP for this race as an international official. His daughter used to slide Luge there before she graduated and began attending college in Europe, majoring in Education.

Two-time Olympian Jayson Terdiman is coaching the American athletes competing in this race, which featured predominantly Canadian sliders and included one competitor representing Puerto Rico.

Still learning the most efficient and effective ways to slide, the starting point on the UOP track for this class of athletes was the Junior Start, which is curve six out of 15, however a few started from the Olympic Women’s Start/Doubles Start at curve three as opposed to the significantly speedier Olympic Men’s Start up at the top of the track.

By comparison, a skeleton athlete may take only weeks to move up curve by curve when first staring out, a bobsledder maybe months and a luger, due to the sheer technicality of ergonomics then transferring and harnessing energy in the sled’s interaction with the ice, can spend years in their and their coaches teamwork pursuit of starting from the top.

Keep in mind that none of the three types of sleds, for all intents and purposes, have brakes.

President of the Wasatch Luge Club Pete Gilwald was on hand working alongside the Olympian and USA Luge’s Western Regional Director Jon Owen and his wife Zianabeth, who was officiating for the International Luge Federation as she has for multiple Olympic Games.

Luge is the only sliding sport in which is timed to the thousands of a second compared to bobsled and skeleton which are to the hundredths. Skeleton Olympian representing the nation of Ghana but calling Utah home spoke to TownLift at the same time the Luge race was wrapping up and he was preparing to push-off at the track.