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.

Each posted the best time in their individual disciplines: Britcher 44.658 seconds; West 46.686 and Andersen with Edmunds 46.966 for a team relay total of 2 minutes 18.310 seconds. The Americans were just 0.4 of a second ahead of silver medalist Germany, with Austria collecting the bronze with a time of 2:18.863.

The team credits the pristine condition of the track, which Edmunds said was “smooth and fast”, with the success of their runs. The contest took place at the site of the 1964 and 1976 Olympic events in Igls, Austria, just outside Innsbruck.

In Monday’s events at YOG, the doubles team of Andersen and Edmunds won a bronze medal. Britcher just missed the medal stand in the women’s singles racing by 0.15 of a second over the two heats — resulting in a fifth place finish — while Raychel Germaine of Roswell, Ga., finished 14^th.

Congratulations to all of these young athletes on their amazing accomplishments at the Youth Olympic Games in Innsbrook. We, and all their fans, look forward to more amazing feats from them as they participate in the fastest sport on ice®.

To learn more about USA Luge, go to USAluge.org. To learn more about WFG, please visit worldfinancialgroup.com.