BEIJING (AP) 鈥� USA Luge鈥檚 Chris Mazdzer had X-rays on his aching right foot a few days ago, and the results were as expected. It鈥檚 still broken.
With that, it became official: The U.S. men鈥檚 luge team was never fully healthy at any point this season.
There were no medals for Americans in any major international men鈥檚 luge event in this Olympic year, and now all three sliders who represented the U.S. at the Beijing Games 鈥� Mazdzer, Tucker West and Jonny Gustafson 鈥� are contemplating their futures.
Mazdzer is strongly leaning toward retirement after four Olympic appearances, West needs time to figure out if he wants to keep going and Gustafson hasn鈥檛 definitively said that he鈥檒l do another four years leading into the 2026 Olympics.
鈥淚鈥檒l have to go back and really do some soul-searching and make that decision,鈥� said West, a three-time Olympian. 鈥淚鈥檓 26 now, which is still young in sport years, but four years adds four years to that age and then you鈥檙e getting kind of old. We鈥檒l see.鈥�
The roster is going to change, especially with Mazdzer planning to step away. West wants to see other changes as well.
There is a high-tech element to sliding. Sled design is critical, especially in luge with race times measured to the thousandth of a second. And West believes the U.S. has fallen behind. The results make that tough to argue: Mazdzer was 2.642 seconds behind after four runs in Beijing, West 3.625 seconds back and Gustafson 5.211 seconds off the pace.
In the real world, a couple of seconds isn't much. In luge, that's forever.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the side of the sport that doesn鈥檛 get talked about a lot,鈥� West said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 technology. It鈥檚 research and development. Quite frankly, we鈥檙e just a little bit behind on it right now. In 2014 we were probably ahead and we haven鈥檛 quite made any developments since then. If you don鈥檛 move for eight years, people are going to pass you. It鈥檚 disappointing, for sure.鈥�
To be fair, West said he 鈥� and the rest of USA Luge 鈥� remain thankful to the team鈥檚 technological partners such as Dow and Norton/Saint-Germain. USA Luge just announced a four-year extension to its sponsorship deal with Norton/Saint-Germain, which has been a backer of the sliding program since the 1970s.
Besides financial support, Norton also has its engineers working to reduce friction of the steel runners as they glide across the ice. Less friction means faster times, and every sliver of a second matters.
鈥淚鈥檝e seen what it鈥檚 like at the top,鈥� West said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to have that slowly fall away from you. But I think we can get back there. We have some of the best partners in the world through Norton and Dow, some of the smartest engineers. We just need to find a way to organize a little better and do a better job on our side of things.鈥�
Mazdzer got hurt in a preseason training run and limped through the year, while trying to compete in both singles and doubles. He was the top American at the Olympics again, finishing eighth in Beijing and earning a spot in the team relay on Thursday. West was 13th in Beijing, his best Olympic finish, and Gustafson was 19th.
Only the top 20 in the standings after three runs made the fourth run at the Olympics; the U.S. was one of five nations to have three sliders make that cut.
鈥淲e all made the last run here which is no small feat,鈥� West said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of things that still need to be addressed at the organizational level, but I think overall we have a strong base.鈥�
One good sign that came from the Olympic race: All three American men exceeded their World Cup standings. Gustafson was 20th in the ranking this season, two spots ahead of Mazdzer and three spots ahead of West.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 what it is about this sport: You have to be perfect,鈥� Gustafson said. 鈥淛ust being able to compete here with these world-class athletes, it鈥檚 been an honor. It鈥檚 incredible to be here.鈥�
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Tim Reynolds, The Associated Press
