Alex Gough’s bronze medal has a silver lining for Canada

PyeongChang (RWH) Alex Gough is the first Canadian in Olympic history to win a medal in the luge. Aside from the historical significance, the result also has a significant financial dimension for the Canadian Luge Association (CLA). The head coach, Germany’s Wolfgang Staudinger, had previously alluded to the impact a medal would have: “As a professional association in Canada, if you win a medal at the Olympics you will bask in the sun 24 hours a day for the next two years. If you don’t win, you spend two years in a dark cellar.”

Viewed like this, it puts the exuberant joy of the entire Canadian team into context. Especially as Staudinger’s young hopefuls went home empty-handed from Sochi four years ago, having finished fourth on three occasions. In PyeongChang it appeared that the nightmare might be repeated when Gough dropped back behind Dajana Eitberger on the fourth run with only Natalie Geisenberger and Tatjana Hüfner (both GER), who were ahead of the Canadian, yet to run.

“I feared the worst again at that point. It was really tough,” said Alex Gough of the roller coaster of emotions she experienced in the final. In the end, Tatjana Hüfner just missed out on a fourth Olympic medal at her fourth Winter Games. Or, as Alex Gough describes it: “That gave me and the team the help we needed”.

Responsibility for the rise of the Canadian luge squad from unfancied outsiders to serious competitors rests with head coach Wolfgang Staudinger, whose own career almost predestined him for the role. Staudinger competed for Germany, even winning bronze in the doubles with the current BSD secretary general Thomas Schwab at the 1988 Winter Games in Calgary, before going on to work as a coach in Germany and marry a Canadian. His wife finished seventh at the Olympics in Calgary, competing under her maiden name of Marie-Claude Doyon.

Staudinger joined the Canadian team over a decade ago, and, according to Alex Gough, turned everything on its head: the training, equipment, and even the attitude. He has now been rewarded with a bronze medal for his star pupil, who will hang up her sled after the team relay. Gough has already hinted that the Olympic women’s race was likely to be her last. However, a potential successor is already waiting in the wings. Brooke Apshkrum won gold at the 2016 Youth Olympic Games and has now tasted the Olympics proper in PyeongChang.