Canada wrapped up the FIL Luge World Championships with a two-medal day at the Whistler Sliding Centre, highlighted by a silver medal in team relay on Saturday (Feb. 2).
Earlier Saturday, Alex Gough picked up a bronze medal in women's singles racing before joining teammates Sam Edney, Tristan Walker and Justin Snith on the relay podium.
“We had a successful Saturday and Alex gave the other three of us the encouragement that we deserved to be on the podium," said Edney. "It just feels really good to be on there in front of this home crowd.”
Canada placed second in the relay with a total time of two minutes 4.472 seconds, finishing as runners-up to the powerhouse German team.
Germany finished in 2:03.826 to take gold, its lineup consisting of the world champions crowned in the individual disciplines throughout the weekend in Whistler — Felix Loch, Natalie Geisenberger and doubles duo Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt. Latvia placed third for the bronze.
Gough, who won singles bronze two years ago and placed fourth at the event in 2012, finished with a two-run, combined time of one minute 13.546 seconds to rank third on Saturday.
"It feels really good. It's tough to be that close to the silver medal and not be there, but I'm still really happy with my performance," said Gough, who was only 12 thousandths of a second away from the runner-up spot.
"I felt like I had really good, consistent runs, and I felt like I slid as well as I have all week, so I have to be happy with that."
The 25-year-old led a strong showing from the Canadian women on their home track, as three from the host nation finished in the top eight.
Calgary residents Kim McRae and Arianne Jones placed seventh and eighth, respectively, while teammate Jordan Smith finished 19th.
Germany's Geisenberger won her first world championship title, finishing in 1:13.428. German teammate Tatjana Hüfner, the Olympic and two-time defending world champ, finished second in 1:13.534.
"It's perfect. It's a big dream to get a gold medal at the world championships and the dream is true now," said Geisenberger.
See Thursday's (Feb. 7) edition of The Question for a full recap.
