Young Canucks Primed to Host 53rd FIL Luge World Championships

Whistler (Luge Canada/04.01.2025) For young lugers, this is always a big moment — having all of your family members on site for the first time.
So, six years ago, when Beattie Podulsky took off at the Whistler Sliding Centre, she wanted to make an impression on the loved ones who were trackside.
And she certainly did. Because as Podulsky blasted through Corner 15, she actually managed to get a glimpse of dear Aunt Lisa - and the expression on her face. Caught off guard by her niece's breakneck speed, she looked stricken.
"I could see her," says Podulsky, laughing, "with her jaw dropped, like, 'Oh my god.'"

To this day, she considers that moment one of her most memorable in the sport, which happens to be the fastest on ice.
"And my aunt's come out every year after that," says the Calgarian, "so clearly it didn't scare her that much."
In fact, watching Podulsky compete with her doubles partner Kailey Allan (Calgary) at the 2025 FIL Luge World Championships, Feb. 6 to 8, in Whistler, B.C., will be her proud mom and dad, Michelle and Ron, and Uncle Roland and, yes, Aunt Lisa.
"They're very supportive," says Podulsky, whose brother Josh is a member of the national freestyle ski team. "My parents love it. We're a sport family."

Also racing for Canada on home ice at the World Championships will be women’s singles athletes: Embyr-Lee Susko (Whistler, B.C.); Caitlin Nash (Whistler, B.C.); Trinity Ellis (Pemberton, B.C.); and Carolyn Maxwell (Calgary). The nation’s lone men’s doubles sled – Devin Wardrope (Calgary) and Cole Zajanski (Calgary) – along with men’s singles athletes Dylan Morse and Theo Downey (both of Calgary).
Downey, like Podulsky, is junior-aged — only 19 years old — but competing in the senior division.
He, too, knows he can count on the encouragement of his folks, Stephanie and Glen. Grasping the importance of their son's passion, they will travel to Whistler for the races.
"My family members have said it before, how they respect how much I put into this," says Downey. "There's a lot of people who wouldn't be willing to put in the time, the effort, but that's just what it takes to do what you love."

Team Canada's members can all say the same. Commitment and upside, they do possess. However, the group is not blessed with experience. Of the 10 sliders, Maxwell is the oldest — and she was born in 2000.
"We always have to pull ourselves back to the ground sometimes — myself included, guilty as charged — and realize that they're actually still quite young," says Robert Fegg, head coach for Luge Canada’s National Team. "This is a big milestone for them. Being part of the World Championships is one thing, but to be on home soil is a little bit bigger. It's a humongous step.
"That's a big part of high-performance sport — to deal with pressure, right? As a steppingstone in your development as a young athlete, it's a big thing to experience it, to learn how to deal with it, then to manage it successfully."
Downey, competing in men's singles, doesn't feel the weight of expectation. Rather, he is thrilled by the opportunity to showcase his ability.
"I'm super stoked," he says. "Being able to do my first World Championships at home is going to be awesome. I feel like it's really going to put me on the map. A lot of other teams will start to notice me as a slider because Whistler is definitely one of my best tracks. Hopefully I can really show what I can do."

Meanwhile, for Podulsky and luge partner Allan, this is a winter of adjustment. Racing in women's doubles for only a matter of months, they have been fine-tuning on the fly — something that Podulsky finds compelling.
"Right now, the most exciting part is how we have to re-learn the sport because doubles and singles are very different," she says. "Getting on the track and feeling like a kid again — 'Oh my god, that was a really good run' — and learning how to do all this, especially with another person, is cool.
"Kailey and I really want to go to the Olympics together. It's been our dream since we were kids. It's definitely getting closer every year."
Podulsky's journey began when she was 11 years old. Accompanying her dad to Canada Olympic Park to drop off her ski-mad brother, she noticed a sign announcing an introductory session to luge. "Why not?" she thought. And she hasn't looked back.
"It's a unique opportunity," says Podulsky. "How many people do you know who do luge? You could have the opportunity to be an Olympic athlete. It's not a common sport. That is a selling point — doing something that not a lot of people do."

Downey tells a similar story. At nine, he jumped at a chance to try the sport in Calgary. "I fell in love with it instantly." Which isn't to say there hadn't been early challenges.
He remembers progressing from the track's lowest start to the second lowest. "I was absolutely terrified," says Downey, chuckling. "But I got to the bottom, and I looked over at my buddy, 'Dude, that was like a roller-coaster — that was so awesome.' Luge is like being able to ride a skillful roller-coaster every single day."
Fear conquered, he's embraced the sport's nuances and become fascinated by the brain's real-time role in performance.
"You and the sled become one, right?" says Downey. "Your brain is moving at such a fast pace just to keep track of everything. Like, I'll mess up and my body will just fix the problem without me even having to think about it. That's really what I love — that adrenaline flow state that you don't get anywhere else.

"There is no experience like luge."
An established ace on the international junior scene, Downey is asked to talk about his career highlight. Interestingly, the response has nothing to do with podiums.
"It's when you finish a race and you can hear all the people, with their cowbells and noise-makers, with their clapping and cheering," says Downey. "It slowly gets louder and louder as you go up to the finish. That feeling is awesome. It's like booming in your chest with how loud everyone's being, and you're like, 'Yeah! I did that! Yeah!'"
Be assured – the finishing stretch in Whistler will be flooded in red and white-clad fans cheering for the Canada’s new generation of luge athletes.