WHISTLER, B.C. — Embyr-Lee Susko describes taking part in the upcoming second leg of the 2023 Luge World Cup in Whistler, B.C., as a "full circle moment."
Susko, 18, grew up in Whistler and got into the sport after attending a Boy Scout camp held at the mountain resort's sliding centre with her brothers.
"It's a full circle moment. In the 2010 Olympics I remember watching the women’s luge and now I’m here," she said. "It means a lot to race at home."
Her two brothers also got in to the sport but eventually dropped out, but Susko has persevered.
"I fell in love with the adrenalin rush," she said. "My coaches described it as a frozen waterslide and I still look at it like that."
Susko's parents never tried luge themselves, having grown up in Ontario and Nova Scotia, but the teen says they have encouraged and supported her.
"With the 2010 Games being in Whistler, they kind if just wanted to keep the legacy going and were excited to keep the legacy going," Susko said about her parents' support. "We all skied and we grew up playing every sport we could in Whistler, so it was just another sport to add to the list."
The World Cup will be Susko's second-ever senior competition, but she has been dominant on the junior World Cup circuit this season.
She has won the first three women's singles races of the 2023-24 junior season, taking gold in two races in the first stop in Park City, Utah, Dec. 1-3 before winning again at Whistler on Dec. 9.
She raced in two junior events last season, placing 17th in the Altenberg Jr. World Cup and 22nd in the Winterberg World Cup. Susko finished 17th in the senior version of the Altenberg event.
Susko will be joined in Whistler by Kailey Allan, Theo Downy, Devin Wardrope, Carolyn Maxwell, Cole Zajanski, Dylan Morse and Beattie Podulsky, all from Calgary, as well as fellow Whistler residents Caitlin Nash and Midori Holland and Trinity Ellis from Pemberton, B.C.
Susko will be competing in the women's singles race, and teaming with Podulsky in women's doubles and team relay.
Team Relay teams consist of one sled from each discipline: women's singles; men's doubles; men's singles; and women's doubles. All four sleds of one team start one after the other from one start height, provided the slider in front of them hits a touch pad to open the start gate for their teammate.
It's the first time women's doubles is being included in the relay.
Susko and Podulsky have only been sliding together for a month, but Susko said she's feeling optimistic.
"We're just super excited to be a part of the team relay, because it creates more opportunities for women in sport and is another opportunity to grow the sport for women," she said.
The event at Whistler is the second leg of the World Cup circuit, which started Dec. 8 in Lake Placid and runs until March 2, 2024 in Sigulda, Latvia.
More than 100 sliders are expected to take part in the World Cup and team relay World Cup events.
The stop in Whistler runs Dec. 15 and 16 before sliders head to Winterberg, Germany in early January.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 14, 2023.
Nick Wells, The Canadian Press
Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version said Susko has competed in two junior Luge World Cups. She has competed in three so far this season, winning all of them.
