Alex Gough hauls in 2 silver medals at luge World Cup
The Canadian Press | Posted: December 16, 2017 4:45 PM | Last Updated: December 16, 2017
Canadian slider and teammate Kim McRae repeat success in Lake Placid, N.Y.
Canadian sliders made several trips to the podium at the luge World Cup event in Lake Placid, N.Y., on Saturday as Alex Gough led the way with two silver medals.
Gough and Kim McRae, both from Calgary, began the day by finishing second and third, respectively, in the singles race.
"It is always fun to be on the podium, and it is way more fun to be there with a teammate," said the 30-year-old Gough. "It was a lot of fun for Kim and I to be up there together today."
Germany's Natalie Geisenberger — the World Cup points leader — came away with gold, clocking in with a two-run time of one minute, 28.11 seconds for the win.
Feeding off a triple-medal performance on home ice in Calgary one week ago, and a bronze medal breakthrough by the doubles tandem of Tristan Walker and Justin Snith on Friday, Gough and McRae made a statement of their own in the women's singles race.
Gough won her second-straight silver medal with a time of 1:28.315. McRae slid to her first podium of the year, clocking a third-place time of 1:28.352.
"We were all so happy for the doubles team to have a good race yesterday," said Gough. "It built excitement within the team and we wanted to follow that up with a good result today."
Gough put down the second-fastest down time in the first heat on the 1,135-metre channel of ice that winds its way down Mount Hoevenberg.
"This is a technical track that has sections you just need to get," Gough said. "We only got four training runs this week so we had to figure it out quickly. These results leave us with good confidence going into the new year. We are excited to have time off and then go to Konigssee which is a track we all enjoy."
McRae's bronze was the 25-year-old's third-career World Cup medal.
"This was huge for me," said McRae. "The first half [of the season] has been up and down so it is nice to come into the break with a podium."
The Calgary residents reached the podium for the second year in a row in singles at Lake Placid, with McRae taking silver last season.
Gough finished off the day by hauling in a silver in the sprint race.
Gough now has three individual medals so for this season as she followed up on the silver she won in her hometown last weekend, where McRae finished just off the podium in fourth.