‘It’s not fun’: Women’s Olympic luge racers wish they weren’t starting farther down track

Women’s lugers upset with Olympic track changes

WHISTLER, British Columbia — Several Olympic women’s lugers are frustrated by the decision to begin their race from a lower spot on the track.

The women’s course at Whistler Sliding Center is about 800 feet shorter now. The switch was made after a Georgian men’s slider was killed Friday during training. Many of the women’s sliders who begin competition Monday wish the change hadn’t been made.

German standout Natalie Geisenberger says racing on the new track is “not fun.” She adds that if a switch in the name of safety was to be made, it should have been done a year earlier, “not when one is dead.”

American world champion Erin Hamlin says it’s extremely difficult to figure out how to handle the new start position.