Living just 10 minutes away from USA Luge’s training facilities is an opportunity that many winter sports athletes can’t let slide away. Sophia Kirkby, a member of the USA women’s national team from Ray Brook, New York, only had to travel 10 minutes to Lake Placid, her first practice on the track when she was 8 years old. Now, at 22, she is still using those same facilities, preparing for her third season competing in the international world cup circuit. “It’s been a great help having these facilities,” Kirkby said. “We get to train, lift, receive a bunch of coaching and a lot of help.” Kirkby has been with Team USA since she was 16, playing in singles events on the junior national team. In 2020, her coaches decided to pair her up with Chevonne Forgan, who was originally born in a small town near Lowell, Massachusetts. Despite their different backgrounds, the two have become inseparable on the track, winning two bronze medals and a silver medal since they teamed up. “The first run we took was so fun,” Forgan said. “We’ve seen a lot of the same coaches, and we have been to a lot of the same training and races, so we have similar sliding styles.” “When you’ve been working together with her for so long, it’s like a partnership,” Kirkby said. “You get to understand the person, and you get to work better with that person.” This year, the duo has their sights set on their first gold. Luckily for them, they both live within minutes from USA Luge headquarters, giving them easy access to train months ahead of the first event. The headquarters house some of the best resources for peak success in their competitions. The facility has several tools such as slides, free weights, and gloves with spikes taped on, helping sliders to increase their speed on the ice. One of the more notable features unique to Lake Placid’s facility includes a set of two separate tracks across the middle of the building. This gives the athletes a chance to work with different starts that prepare for each World Cup event across several other tracks in Europe. “We have four different degrees of ramps,” Forgan said. “Luge tracks around the world are all different. This can help with all the different start ramps that we have to compete on.” The two will get a familiar course to kick off the series, with the first world cup of 2023 taking place right at Mt. Van Hoevenburg. It’s an exciting opportunity for Kirkby, who knows her local family will be close by to cheer her on for her first world cup appearance in Lake Placid as a member of Team USA. “It’s a great feeling to have my family and supporters here in Lake Placid cheering me,” Kirkby said. “It’s not the same when I’m in Germany or in Latvia. I don’t have too many people to root me on physically.” Lake Placid’s world cup event starts on Dec. 8 and will finish Dec. 9 at Mt. Van Hoevenburg.
Living just 10 minutes away from USA Luge’s training facilities is an opportunity that many winter sports athletes can’t let slide away.
Sophia Kirkby, a member of the USA women’s national team from Ray Brook, New York, only had to travel 10 minutes to Lake Placid, her first practice on the track when she was 8 years old. Now, at 22, she is still using those same facilities, preparing for her third season competing in the international world cup circuit.
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“It’s been a great help having these facilities,” Kirkby said. “We get to train, lift, receive a bunch of coaching and a lot of help.”
Kirkby has been with Team USA since she was 16, playing in singles events on the junior national team. In 2020, her coaches decided to pair her up with Chevonne Forgan, who was originally born in a small town near Lowell, Massachusetts. Despite their different backgrounds, the two have become inseparable on the track, winning two bronze medals and a silver medal since they teamed up.
“The first run we took was so fun,” Forgan said. “We’ve seen a lot of the same coaches, and we have been to a lot of the same training and races, so we have similar sliding styles.”
“When you’ve been working together with her for so long, it’s like a partnership,” Kirkby said. “You get to understand the person, and you get to work better with that person.”
This year, the duo has their sights set on their first gold. Luckily for them, they both live within minutes from USA Luge headquarters, giving them easy access to train months ahead of the first event. The headquarters house some of the best resources for peak success in their competitions.
The facility has several tools such as slides, free weights, and gloves with spikes taped on, helping sliders to increase their speed on the ice. One of the more notable features unique to Lake Placid’s facility includes a set of two separate tracks across the middle of the building. This gives the athletes a chance to work with different starts that prepare for each World Cup event across several other tracks in Europe.
“We have four different degrees of ramps,” Forgan said. “Luge tracks around the world are all different. This can help with all the different start ramps that we have to compete on.”
The two will get a familiar course to kick off the series, with the first world cup of 2023 taking place right at Mt. Van Hoevenburg.
It’s an exciting opportunity for Kirkby, who knows her local family will be close by to cheer her on for her first world cup appearance in Lake Placid as a member of Team USA.
“It’s a great feeling to have my family and supporters here in Lake Placid cheering me,” Kirkby said. “It’s not the same when I’m in Germany or in Latvia. I don’t have too many people to root me on physically.”
Lake Placid’s world cup event starts on Dec. 8 and will finish Dec. 9 at Mt. Van Hoevenburg.
