World Financial Group

Lillehammer, Norway was the site of the 1994 Winter Olympics and to this day the lovely Nordic town continues to host winter sporting events.  Recently, Lillehammer was site of Luge Nations and World Cup racing, which included the World Financial Group-sponsored USA Luge team for their last meet before Christmas.

In the men’s Nations Cup race, WFG-adopted athlete Bengt Walden finished fifth with a time of 50.656 seconds, only 0.339 seconds off first place.  Chris Mazdzer finished in 13^th place with a time of 50.942 seconds and Trent Matheson came in 19^th with a time of 51.501 seconds.  Among the women, Megan Sweeney finished third with a time of 49.021, only 0.455 seconds off the lead.  Her sister Emily placed 7^th with a time of 49.154 seconds.  Julia Clukey, returning to competition after a training injury, finished 11^th with a time of 49.347 seconds and WFG-adopted athlete Kate Hansen finished 17^th with a time of 49.752 seconds.  Doubles sliding featured the US team of Christian Niccum and Dan Joye finishing second with a time of 48.513, only 0.172 seconds off the lead.  Not far behind them was the team of Matthew Mortensen and Preston Griffall, coming in fifth with a time of 48.867.  And right behind them were WFG-adopted athletes Mark Grimmette and Brian Martin, whose 48.971 earned them sixth place.

In World Cup sliding, Tony Benshoof finished best among the US men with a two-slide combined time of 1:41.399, earning him ninth place.  Bengt Walden finished 21^st with a time of 1:42.001 and Chris Mazdzer came in 28^th with his time of 1:42.883.  The women had four sliders.  Leading the US was current world champion Erin Hamlin and her two-slide time of 1:37.616 earned her third place and a bronze medal.  Megan Sweeney finished 13^th with a time of 1:38.601, while her sister Emily wasn’t far behind her for 16^th place with a time of 1:38.859.  Julia Clukey finished 19^th with a time of 1:39.209.  Doubles featured the team of Niccum and Joye coming in fourth with a time of 1:37.141, Mortensen and Griffall in 12^th with a time of 1:37.743 and Grimmette and Martin finishing 13^th with a time of 1:37.936.

The USA Luge team will slide next on January 2-3 in Koenigssee, Germany for a World Cup and Team Relay.  Keep reading here for the latest on your USA Luge team! 

The World Financial Group-sponsored USA Luge team had their third World Cup and Nations Cup race of the season last weekend in Altenberg, Germany.

In the men’s Nation Cup race, USA Luge member Chris Mazdzer finished best among the team.  His slide of 55.838 seconds, only 0.817 seconds off first place, earned him 15^th place and a spot in the World Cup race later that day.   Also qualifying for the World Cup race was WFG-adopted athlete Bengt Walden.  He finished 18^th with a time of 55.971 seconds.  Trent Matheson finished 30^th with a time of 56.754 seconds.

The women’s Nations Cup race featured three USA Luge team members.  Leading the pack among them was Megan Sweeney.  Her time of 54.323 seconds, only 0.679 seconds off the lead, was good enough for 10^th place and a qualification for World Cup racing.  Not too far behind Megan was her sister Emily.  She finished in 14^th place with a time of 54.500 seconds, which also qualified her for World Cup racing.  WFG-adopted athlete Kate Hansen finished 24^th with a time of 55.784 seconds.  Sadly, Julia Clukey suffered an injury during training and had to withdraw.

The Doubles Nations Cup racing featured two USA Luge teams.  Christian Niccum and Dan Joye finished fifth with a time of 42.774 seconds, only 0.158 seconds off first.  Not far behind them were Matthew Mortensen and Preston Griffall with a time of 43.090 seconds for 8^th place.  Both teams qualified for the World Cup race.

In the World Cup men’s race, Tony Benshoof finished best among the US Men.  His combined time of 1:49.517 earned him 10^th place and was only 0.57 seconds out of first.  WFG-adopted athlete Bengt Walden finished 18^th with a time of 1:50.111.  Chris Mazdzer was close behind Bengt with a time of 1:50.212 for 20^th.

Women’s World Cup racing featured three USA Luge team members.  Finishing best among them was Erin Hamlin.  The current World Champion finished in 5^th place with a combined time of 1:48.522, only 0.967 seconds away from first.  Emily Sweeney’s 1:48.991 earned her 13^th while her sister Megan came in 17^th with a time of 1:49.407.  With Erin’s run, she earned qualification for the USA Olympic Team.  Way to go Erin!

Among the doubles World Cup sliders, USA’s Christian Niccum and Dan Joye finished best among the USA Luge team with a ninth place time of 1:25.086, only 0.626 seconds off first.  WFG-adopted athletes Mark Grimmette and Brian Martin finished 15^th with a time of 1:25.983.  And doubles team Matthew Mortensen and Preston Griffall finished 20^th with a time of 1:40.212.

Before the USA Luge team left Germany, a team relay race was held.  The US team consisted of Tony for the men, Erin for the women and Christian and Dan for the doubles.  The power of “the whoosh” was behind our relay racers as their combined time of 2:26.680 was only 0.938 seconds off of Germany’s first place run.

The WFG-sponsored Luge team will next visit Lillehammer, Norway for sliding on December 12 and 13.  Keep reading here for all the latest on “the fastest sport on ice.”  

Over the Thanksgiving weekend, the World Financial Group-sponsored USA Luge team participated in the second Nations Cup and World Cup matches of the season in Igls, Austria.  Was Igls ready for “the fastest sport on ice”?

Nations Cup racing featured two sliders among the US Men.  Chris Mazdzer finished in 13^th place with a time of 49.298 seconds, which was only 0.378 seconds slower than first place finisher Daniel Pfister from Austria.  This time was good enough to qualify Chris for the World Cup race later that weekend.  Sadly, however, fellow US teammate Trent Matheson was disqualified.

Among the women sliding in the Nations Cup, US team member Julia Clukey finished second with a time of 40.219, a mere 0.168 seconds behind Germany’s Corinna Martini.  Not far behind Julia was Emily Sweeney, whose 40.324 seconds finish was good for ninth place.  Immediately behind Emily was WFG-adopted athlete Kate Hansen, finishing tenth with a time of 40.324.  And Emily’s sister Megan came in 13^th place with a time of 40.437.  Julia, Kate and Megan all qualified for the World Cup race based on their performance here.

Doubles sliding in the Nations Cup featured a USA team finishing first.  The team of Matthew Mortensen and Preston Griffall qualified for the World Cup race with a time of 39.664 seconds.  Fellow teammates Christian Niccum and Dan Joye finished fifth with a time of 39.918 and also qualified for the World Cup race.

When World Cup racing commenced, the USA Luge team hit the course with anticipation.  For the US women, Erin Hamlin finished best with a combined 1:19.858 time, good for ninth place.  Julia Clukey finished 12^th with a time of 1:20.061.  Right behind her was Kate Hansen, whose time of 1:20.169 earned her 13^th place.  Rounding out the US ladies was Megan Sweeney, coming in 22^nd with a time of 1:20.692, which was 1.463 seconds removed from first place.

The men had three sliders in the World Cup race.  The best finisher among the US team was Tony Benshoof, who finished 10^th with a combined time of 1:38.225- only 0.267 seconds away from first place.  WFG-adopted athlete Bengt Walden finished 19^th with a time of 1:38.463 and Chris Mazdzer came in 32nd with a time of 1:41.616.

For the doubles competition, the best US team to finish was Matthew Mortensen and Preston Griffall.  Their time of 1:19.148 was good for 8^th place and only 0.517 seconds off first.  Not far behind them was the team of Christian Niccum and Dan Joye, whose 1:19.502 was good for 12^th.  Finally, WFG-adopted athletes Mark Grimmette and Brian Johnson finished 18^th with a time of 1:19.741.

In a relay event, the US team of Bengt, Erin, Matthew and Preston finished fourth with a total time of 2:12.267, which was only 1.403 seconds off first.

Up next for the USA Luge team will be a World Cup and Team Relay race held next weekend in Altenberg, Germany.  Keep reading here for all the latest on the USA Luge Team.

The USA Luge team, proudly sponsored by World Financial Group, started their season last weekend at the first Nations Cup and World Cup match held in Calgary, AB.

Friday, November 20 saw the Nations Cup competition, and for the men, Toby Benshoof finished third among the U.S. competitors with a time of 45.167 seconds - only 0.345 seconds away from first.  Also sliding were Chris Mazdzer, who finished tenth with a time of 45.385 and Trent Matheson, who ended 23^rd with a time of 46.044. 

U.S. women competing included WFG-adopted athlete Kate Hansen, who finished fifth with a time of 47.667 seconds, which was only 0.501 off first place.  Not too far behind her was Julia Clukey, whose 47.802 time was good for eighth place.  Also sliding for the US were Emily Sweeney with a time of 48.343 for 18^th and her sister Megan who finished at 48.743 seconds for 22^nd. 

Doubles Nations Cup sliders for the United States were Matthew Mortensen and Preston Griffall, whose 45.032 second time was good for ninth place. Only 0.731 seconds off the lead. 

Also on Friday, the Calgary World Cup started with the doubles competition.  Each team takes two slides on the track to determine a total time.  WFG-adopted athletes Mark Grimmette and Brian Johnson finished first among the U.S. sliders with a combined 1:28.415 over two runs, and put them in eighth place with a time only 0.56 seconds off first place for the competition.  Also sliding was the team of Matthew Mortensen and Preston Griffall, who finished 14^th with a combined time of 1.28.711.  Sadly, due to weight concerns, the third U.S. doubles team of Christian Niccum and Dan Joye were disqualified.

World Cup sliding continued the next day with men’s and women’s competition.  For the men, Tony Benshoof finished the best among the USA Luge team with a sixth place time of 1:30.491, which was 0.423 seconds behind first.  Also sliding was WFG-adopted athlete Bengt Walden, whose combined time of 1:30.625 was good for a tenth place finish.  Rounding out the competition for the U.S. men was Chris Mazdzer, finishing 32^nd with a combined time of 1.32.202.

Among the women, the U.S. ladies did well in their first competition.  Finishing seventh was Erin Hamlin, last year’s World Cup winner, with a combined time of 1.34.716 just 1.025 seconds off first place.  Not far behind her was Julia Clukey, finishing with a 1.35.092 for 11^th.  Finally, WFG-adopted athlete Kate Hansen, in her first World Cup race, finished 16^th with 1:35.421.

In luge, a winner is determined by a fraction of a second.  When less than two seconds separate the first place finisher from the end finisher, you know you’re pretty fast on the ice.  Next, our USA Luge team travel to Igls, Austria for a competition this weekend.  We at World Financial Group can’t wait to see our team slide to victory.

In an article by Jonathan Abrams, USA Luge team members Ashley and Bengt Walden are profiled on their marriage and their hopes of making the US Olympic team.  The picture with the article features the couple wearing their sponsor jackets, which features the World Financial Group logo on the upper left side. 

It’s a great article about Bengt and Ashley, but keep reading here for all the latest on the WFG-sponsored UAS Luge team!

Every sport has a pre-season training period, and the USA Luge team, of which World Financial Group (WFG) is a proud sponsor, is no different.  And while you think Luge doesn’t compete in the summer, our US team did just that in the mountains of Meransen, Italy last weekend for the “International Luge Start Championships”. 3

US team member Ashley Walden provides this explanation of the “start competition”: “[it’s] where you pull the handles [at the top of the track] and paddle four or five times and then [slide through] one curve”.  Ashley says the start competition is very interesting for athletes because it helps them gauge where they are in their training.  Each athlete is given three of these abbreviated runs and their times are combined for their final score. 

Well, for this training competition, the WFG-sponsored team started in fine form.  Among the ladies, Julia Clukey won gold by sliding to a combined time of 14.247 seconds.  Not far behind her was Ashley, who won silver with a combined time of 14.462 seconds.  Other US ladies team members sliding included Courtney Zablocki (14.691 seconds for sixth) and current world champion Erin Hamlin (14.788 seconds for seventh). 

Two of our US men’s sliders placed in the top ten.  Bengt Walden, Ashley’s husband, finished seventh with a combined time of 14.052 seconds.  Teammate Chris Mazdzer’s combined time of 14.140 was enough for tenth.  Also performing well was Joe Mortensen with a 14^th place finish of 14.212 seconds. 

Doubles competition featured two top ten finishers.  Matt Mortensen and Preston Griffall had a 14.151 second combined time for fourth place while their teammates, Mark Grimmette and Brian Martin’s 14.185 second finish was good for sixth. 

Look for more coverage of our US Luge team right here on wfgsports.com.  And to our USA Luge team: your friends at World Financial Group wish you continued success throughout the season.

Hey!  Do you read Sports Illustrated?  If you do, then you know that the issue for the week of Feb. 16 has three pictures of the World Financial Group-sponsored USA Luge team.  On pages eight and nine, in the “Leading Off” section, Erin Hamlin is featured in an action shot on her luge along with an insert of her crossing the finish line in victory at the Luge World Championships that took place at Lake Placid, NY last week.  And on page 20, in “Newsmakers,” Erin is featured again, along with doubles team members Mark Grimmette and Brian Martin in their own action shot from the World Champions.  A brief article accompanies these pictures with quotes from all three team members.

But there was no rest after their triumphant showing on the track last weekend.  Our USA Luge team continued their season this past Friday and Saturday in Calgary, AB for the penultimate race of the season. 

Representing the WFG-sponsored USA Luge on the women’s side is newly crowned world champion Erin.  She wore the yellow World Champion’s bib (their words, not mine).  Alas, she placed seventh with a time of 1:35.806, a mere 0.628 seconds behind Germany’s Tatjana Hüfner, who took home gold.  Also sliding with Erin were teammates Ashley Walden (1:36.162 for the 11^th spot) and Anastasia Young (1:36.775 for 16^th place).

For the Men’s team, Bengt Walden built on his best ever international finish.  His 1:31.273 also was his best-ever run last week in Lake Placid.  For the competition in Calgary, he finished in seventh place.  In fact, he has placed in the top ten over his last six international races.  Way to go Bengt!  US teammates Chris Mazdzer and Tony Benshoof slid to 20^th and 21^st place, respectively.

In doubles competition, World Cup medalists Mark and Brian slid for a ninth place finish.  Their teammates Christian Niccum and Dan Joye (who was battling a high fever) came slightly ahead of Mark and Brian with an eighth place finish.  They were joined by Matt Mortensen and Preston Griffall, who slid to 15^th place in their first race this season.

Hooray for Erin Hamlin! The USA Luge team entered the 41st Federation International De Luge De Course World Cup in Lake Placid, NY with hopes of winning gold and making progress towards qualifying for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. And when it was all over, the World Financial Group-sponsored team had members on the medal stand more than once.

In the women’s competition, Erin fought migraine headaches while training over the weekend to slide for a combined 1:28.098 and the Women’s Gold Medal. This is the first since 1993 that a woman not from Germany has taken the top of the medal stand. And while Erin may be reaching for some painkillers in the days to come, she looks forward to defending her world title. As she told usaluge.org, “It will take a lot to stay up here but who knows, anything can happen.” Germany’s Natalie Geisenberger did win silver with a combined run of 1:28.285 (only 0.187 seconds behind Erin) while the Ukraine’s Natalia Yakushenko slid for Bronze with a total time of 1:28.334.

Erin’s teammates on the women’s team also had good showings. Julia Clukey finished fifth with a time of 1:28.662 and Ashley Walden slid to seventh place with a time of 1:28.844. Also sliding was Anastasia Young, in her world championship debut. She finished 14th with a total time of 1:29.626. Everyone at WFG extends a big “high five” to our women’s luge team!

In double’s competition, the US duo of Mark Grimmette and Brian Martin have placed in the top ten consistently all season. But this sliding duo has always set their sights high. This weekend in Lake Placid was no exception as Mark and Brian slid to a combined time of 1:27.611, which was enough to win them the Bronze Medal in the World Championships. This is their first international luge medal in two years. Italy’s Gerhard Plankensteiner and Oswald Hasselrieder won gold with a 1:27.401 run and Germany’s Andre Florschütz claimed the silver with a total time of 1:27.458. Mark and Brian weren’t alone in the top ten, US wise. The team of Christian Niccum and Daniel Joye slid for a sixth place finish. Also finishing in the top ten were Matt Mortensen and Preston Griffall for ninth. All of us at World Financial Group applaud your finishes.

And we at WFG would be remiss if we didn’t mention the men’s team. Bengt Walden’s race was a personal best. His combined slides of 1:45.242 were enough to put him in sixth place. Bengt is only in his second season with the USA Luge team. Christopher Mazder placed 14th at 1:45.981. Teammate Tony Benshoof, fresh off of his back surgery, placed 18th with a 1:46.163 combined while Robby Huerbin, another team member in their first world championship race, finished with a 1:46.318 time, good for 21st place.

In the relay, the combined efforts of Bengt, Erin, Mark and Brian totaled 2:44.084, good enough for sixth place. Germany took the gold. But everyone at World Financial Group eagerly awaits more luge action over Valentine’s Day weekend in Calgary and the following weekend in Whistler, BC. Be sure to visit usaluge.org for more information on the fastest sport on ice.

We’ve all seen a medal stand before.  That’s the thingamajig athletes stand on after finishing first, second and/or third after a sporting event.  The third place finisher, or bronze medalist, stands on the lowest step off the ground.  The second place finisher, or silver medalist, stands a little higher than the third place finisher, and the overall winner, or gold medalist” stands above all the athletes on the highest step possible.  Normally we see the medal stand at the Olympics.  The winners receive their medals and then the flags of those athlete’s countries are raised and the national anthem of the gold medalist’s country is performed.

Below, courtesy of Gordy Sheer at USA Luge, is WFG-sponsored USA Junior World Cup team member Emily Sweeney on the medal stand in Igls, Austria after the final Junior World Cup event of the season.  And let me tell you, readers, this is the first time I’ve ever seen the World Financial Group (WFG) logo on anyone standing on the medal stand!

Emily won the Gold in the Youth A (under 18) category with a two-run combined time of 1:22.087.  This was 0.141 seconds ahead of silver medalist Luzie Löscher of Germany.  This victory also placed Emily fourth overall for the season.  Also finishing in the top ten for this event was Emily’s teammate Summer Britcher with a time of 1:22.486, good for eighth place.  Summer also finished in the top ten for the season, coming in ninth place.

The winning doesn’t stop there for the WFG-sponsored USA Luge Junior team.  From team competition last weekend, USA Luge members Robby Huerbin, Kate Hansen, Trent Matheson and Taylor Morris ran a combined 2:11.402 to take first in front of Austria and Germany.  Here is our winning quartet sporting their newly won gold.

After a well deserved holiday break, the World Finanical Group sponsored USA Luge team was back on the course sliding for World Cup points.  This past weekend's race took place in Konigssee, Germany and featured one men's singles competitor, two female singles competitors and two doubles teams representing.  This particular track is a favorite in the luge community for its tightness, speed and overall ideal racing conditions.

On the men's slide, Bengt Walden finished in seventh place overall with 1:35.402.  This ties his previous personal best in individual competition.  On the doubles side of the competition, Mark Grimmette and Brian Martin finished eighth in their race.  Their combined time of 1.35.517 marks their third top ten finish in a row.  And not to be left out, teammates Christian Niccum and Dan Joye finished ninth with a time of 1:35.559 (wow, that's tight!).  Ladies sliders Erin Hamlin finished eleventh in her race with a 1:36.807 time and Ashley Walden finished fourteenth with a time of 1:37.034

Up next for the USA Luge team, sponsored by WFG, is Italy.  Racing will take place January 9-11 in Cesana Pariol.  Coverage will be provided by Universal Sports and www.universalsports.com.

Also, we at World Financial Group wish to extend our best wishes to USA Luge team member Toby Benshoof.  Toby underwent successful back surgery right after Christmas and will be back sliding later in the season.