While 麻豆社国产luger Nicky Klimchuk-Brown is still only in high school, he had the chance to compete in a recent competition in Whistler.
There he finished fourth going up against top members of the national luge team, including Sam Edney, the 32-year-old veteran who finished first.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a test run to see how we do,鈥� Klimchuk-Brown said.
He was pleased with his time of 1:42.041 for his two runs, or 0.991 seconds back of Edney.
聽鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 too far behind,鈥� said the 17-year-old. 鈥淚 have a few years to close that gap.鈥�
The opportunity to race was a thrill for Klimchuk-Brown, who considers Edney one of his idols. Last year, the junior team members did some practising with the senior members, but this year brought the opportunity for 鈥渇ull-out鈥� racing against them.
鈥淚t鈥檚 good to think of him as competition now,鈥� Klimchuk-Brown said.
He turns 18 in February, but 21 is the age to jump to the senior level, so he still has a few years to hone his skills in the junior circuit.
Klimchuk-Brown says he and his siblings are 鈥渢hrill seekers鈥� and 鈥渄aredevils鈥� so the sport seemed like a natural fit for him, but luge was not on the family鈥檚 radar until his mom saw an ad for a recruitment camp. He then started in 2007 after trying out the sport on the track in Calgary because the Whistler track had just been built for the upcoming Olympics but was not yet open.
鈥淲hen I was younger, it was more about the fun speeds that you could hit,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ack when you鈥檙e nine or 10, going over 100 kilometres an hour on a toboggan is quite the thrill.鈥�
From there, he mostly raced local and regional competitions through age 13 and started to notice he could more than hold his own at the sport.
At age 14, he began to race at higher-level competitions and has since begun to make a name for himself in the sport.
鈥淚f you鈥檙e good enough, you start racing at the international level,鈥� he said.
He says his second-place finish at a Junior World Cup in Whistler in 2015 was his first important result on a bigger stage, but his biggest finish so far came in Winterberg, Germany at the Junior American Pacific Championships in January. This included North American and Asian competitors, and he placed second among the competition.
That course has a flat start to it, which he thinks played to his strengths.
鈥淚鈥檝e always been a very strong starter,鈥� he said.
The championships also came at the end of his international schedule for the year, so he went all out when it came time to compete.
鈥淚 was able to really push it all out for that,鈥� he said.
Back in Squamish, he attends Coast Mountain Academy for his education, as the school is aimed at young athletes competing at a high level. He has been going there for four years now and finds that the small class sizes, accessibility of teachers and flexible scheduling help him balance his schooling with his luge competitions and training.
鈥淭here鈥檚 definitely a lot of flexibility with that school, which is why it works really well with me,鈥� he said.
As to what is next, his schedule includes a senior World Cup at Whistler, another in Park City, Utah, and a pair of Junior World Cups in Calgary in the same week.
鈥淚 hope to place really well in those,鈥� he said. 鈥淧odiuming in both is definitely a goal of mine.鈥�
