World Financial Group

The USA Luge team, which World Financial Group proudly sponsors, won a coveted gold medal at the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in Austria on Tues., Jan. 17. The quartet of Summer Britcher in women’s singles, Tucker West in men’s singles, and Ty Andersen and Pat Edmunds in doubles had amazing runs down the Olympic track to win the YOG team relay. [More]

USA Luge hosted an evening of racing at their fully refrigerated luge start training complex on Aug. 20 during the WSLP USA Luge Open Start Championships, presented by Lake Placid Craft Brewing. There were competitions in five categories: 15 and under boys and girls, men and women age 16 and up, and experienced luge racers. The event included three hours of coaching and training by the USA Luge team members, who offered tips and explained the luge starting process. How cool is that?! (pun intended) [More]

The “fantasy camp” experience seems to be kind of a misnomer. While you may not actually participate in a league-sanctioned contest, you do get to experience just about everything these athletes do on “game” day. The USA Luge team, proudly sponsored by World Financial Group (WFG), had their Fantasy Camp from April 6-9, and WFG Executive Marketing Director, Mel Bell of Ogden, Utah, attended with his wife Cheryl and son Matt. [More]

The World Financial Group (WFG)-sponsored USA Luge team ended its 2010-11 season with their National Seeding races on March 6 in Lake Placid, NY. These races, along with the National Championships held on March 5, help determine the make up of the team next season. [More]

The World Financial Group (WFG)-sponsored USA Luge team compete in the Norton National National Luge Championship on March 5, which determined who on the team would be the national champion. The events on Mount Van Hoovenberg in Lake Placid, NY held many exciting moments. [More]

The World Financial Group (WFG)-sponsored USA Luge team competed in the final Nations and World Cup matches of the season in Sigulda, Latvia on Sat., Feb. 19 and Sun., Feb. 20. This year, the competitors from the USA Luge team included Erin Hamlin, Chris Mazdzer, Matthew Mortensen, Preston Griffall, WFG-adopted athletes Bengt and Ashley Walden. Let’s take a look at their results. [More]

The USA Luge team, sponsored by World Financial Group (WFG) participated in the penultimate meet on Feb. 12-13 in Paramonovo, Russia. Where would each team member end up in the standings? [More]

The USA Luge team, sponsored by World Financial Group, competed in the 42nd Federation International de Luge World Champions on January 29-30 in Cesana, Italy. At the last World Championships, team member Erin Hamlin won the women’s title. Would she repeat her win this year? And would her teammates take a spot on the medal stand? The USA Luge team finishing highest in the competition were the doubles team of Matthew Mortensen and Preston Griffall, who achieved seventh place overall with a combined time of 1:34.127. Teammates Christian Niccum and Jayson Terdiman also placed in the top 15 with a time of 1:34.208, earning them the spot at 11 overall. [More]

For the third week in a row, and the last time this season, the World Financial Group-sponsored USA Luge team competed in Germany from Jan. 22-23. The city of Altenberg played host. Overall, the USA Luge team had their best showing in the relay race. The team of Erin Hamlin, Chris Mazdzer, Christian Niccum and Jayson Terdiman finished with a time of 2:27.428. The finish was only 2.212 seconds from the lead team and earned them sixth place. [More]

Following its first trip to Germany in 2011, the World Financial Group-sponsored USA Luge team visited Oberhof for the second of three matches in the European country on Jan. 15-16. Would this visit prove fruitful? Four men’s team members competed in the Nations Cup slide. WFG-adopted athlete Bengt Walden finished in the Top 10 with a one slide time of 46.748 seconds. This earned him seventh place. Chris Mazdzer finished 14th with a time of 46.821. Trent Matheson came in 21st with a time of 47.486. And immediately behind him was Joe Mortensen with a time of 47.522, which barely missed the cut for World Cup racing. And in those races, Bengt would finish best among the U.S. men with a three-slide combined time of 1:32.265, earning him 18th overall. Chris was immediately behind him in 19th place with a combined time of 1:32.377. Trent finished 32nd with a time of 1:48.742. [More]