US Luge Association announces yearly awards

Lake Placid (RWH) Erin Hamlin, Tucker West and the doubles team of Matt Mortensen and Jayson Terdiman as well as the World Championship team relay team are issued with the yearly award by the annual meetings of the United States Luge Association Board of Directors and ensuing Assembly. This was now published by the USLA in Lake Placid.

Erin Hamlin, Female Athlete of the Year, won two Viessmann World Cup events on her way to a fourth place overall rank. The 2014 Olympic bronze medalist also scored a team record three medals at the 2017 World Championships, giving her a total of four career medals at worlds.

Tucker West was named Male Athlete of the Year on the strength of his two World Cup wins and a pair of fourth place race finishes. The Doubles Team of the Year was the highest ranked American sled in the Viessmann World Cup, Mortensen and Terdiman had two silver medals in doubles races, the second of which on the final day of the season, dramatically elevated them to third place on the Viessmann World Cup season. World Championship team relay team of Hamlin, West, Mortensen and Terdiman were the Team Relay Team of the Year, collaborating for the silver medal in Igls, Austria last January.

 The recipient of the John Jenkins Sports Passion Award was Ron Rossi. Jenkins was a USA Luge pioneer. The award honors people who possess an undying commitment and passion for the sport. Rossi has displayed this for some 40 years, starting with his competitive days that brought him to the 1984 Winter Olympics, and later as the organization’s former CEO for over three decades. He is currently the controller for USA Curling.