1:00pm Tuesday 16th March 2010
LUGE slider Sam Wake recently represented Great Britain as part of the three-man Natural Luge team in the World cup series.
The former Robert Mays and Queen Mary’s College student had been training hard as part of the minor nation training camp, which consisted of athletes from Ukraine, South Korea, Bulgaria, Romania and Canada, ahead of the World Cup.
Training consists of sliding the World Cup tracks along with plenty of sled maintenance to ensure it is able to withstand the rigours of 90kph plus on the ice.
After successful training qualification for the fourth World Cup race in Italy, the GB sliders were placed 38 to 40, but only a few seconds behind Romania and Bulgaria.
Wake was second-placed British finisher over two competition runs.
After this race, focus was turned to the Intercontinental Cup race in Frantschach, Austria, and Wake was the top GB finisher in a creditable ninth position.
He finished the season with five World Cup points to be ranked joint 57th after another week of sliding the tracks of St Lorenzen, Passier and Deutschnofen in preparation for GB’s final World Cup race of the season at Latzfons, Italy, where once again Wake was the top GB finisher.
Team GB are now training hard and will be on wheeled sleds on British road tracks in the summer to gain valuable sled time to build towards Britain’s five year plan of breaking into the world’s top 25.
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