Germany’s Max Langenhan struck gold in the men’s singles race at the Eberspacher Luge World Cup stop at the Whistler Sliding Centre on Friday in Whistler, B.C.
Langenhan finished his race in one minute, 40.093 seconds.
Jonas Mueller of Austria (1:40.348) and Latvia’s Kristers Aparjods (1:40.572) earned silver and bronze, respectively.
Langenhan sits atop the men’s singles rankings through the first two legs of the World Cup circuit with 200 points. The 24-year-old also had the fastest time in the first leg of the World Cup circuit, which runs until March 2, 2024 in Sigulda, Latvia.
Downey said he was pleased with his first singles race on the senior circuit, a week after finishing third at the Winterberg Jr. World Cup.
“Being able to be around these people that are way older than me, my entire career I’ve been looking up to them and been like ‘oh wow these guys are the big leagues’ is pretty exciting,” he said.
WATCH l Full replay of opening run in men’s event:
Watch the opening men’s luge run from the FIL World Cup stop in Whistler, B.C.
Downey trains in Whistler and said having practised on the luge course before helped him in preparing for the men’s senior event.
“This track is scary. It’s very scary. So having those hundreds of runs to fall back on has helped a lot,” he said.
Devin Wardrope and Cole Anthony Zajanski are set to compete in the men’s doubles event, with Embyr-Lee Susko and Beattie Podulsky competing in the women’s doubles.
Susko and Podulsky have trained together as a doubles team for a month in preparation of the team relay being held Saturday.
Team Relay teams consist of one sled from each discipline: women’s singles; men’s doubles; men’s singles; and women’s doubles. All four sleds of one team start one after the other from one start height, provided the slider in front of them hits a touch pad to open the start gate for their teammate.
It’s the first time women’s doubles is being included in the relay.
WATCH l World’s best lugers come to Whistler:
The Whistler Sliding Centre hosts the second stop of the 2023-24 Luge World Cup on Friday and Saturday. Watch the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on CBC Sports from July 26 – August 11, 2024.