WHISTLER, B.C. — Embyr-Lee Susko wiped tears from her eyes as she waved to the crowd at the luge world championships on Friday.
The 19-year-old Susko had blasted down her home track in Whistler, B.C., in 38.634 seconds in front of her parents and a gaggle of loved ones. Her teammates — and childhood friends — enveloped her in giant hugs before she could even step onto the finish dock.
“It was insane. Seeing my parents and everyone in Canada behind me. It's — I can't even bring it to words," Susko said of the moment. "It was incredible.”
With a two-run time of one minute 17.287 seconds, Susko finished just off the podium in fourth place in the women's singles race. She was 0.081 seconds behind the 1:17.206 posted by gold medallist Julia Taubitz of Germany.
“There's nothing I could ask to change in any of those runs," Susko said. "They were some of my best starts and just clean runs. And it was incredible to build a throw down on my home track. This was my race, and I'm stoked on it.”
Heading into the second round, the top six competitors were separated by less than a tenth of a second.
“I really like this track here in Whistler. But it's so, so tight," said Taubitz. "And every run must be perfect to be here at the top. And now I'm so happy and thankful that I can be the world champion.”
Germany's Merle Fraebel took silver and Emily Sweeney of the United States claimed bronze.
For Susko, finishing among the World Cup veterans felt a bit surreal.
“Sometimes I forget that I'm 19 and racing against everyone who's significantly older than me," she said. "So managing the nerves was a bit of a challenge in between runs. But I was able to figure it out and throw down some runs.”
Fellow Canadian Trinity Ellis of Pemberton, B.C., finished 13th in the women's singles race while Whistler's Caitlin Nash came in 16th among the 31 sleds from 14 nations.
Carolyn Maxwell of Calgary did not qualify for the second run and finished 25th.
Earlier on Friday, Austria's Selina Egle and Lara Michaela Kipp claimed their second straight women's doubles title.
The pair broke the track record with their first run, speeding down in 38.858 seconds, then claimed gold with a two-run time of 1:17.724 seconds.
"We didn't expect it at all, because it's a start track, and we are not that fast to start, and we were getting into the race with no high expectations," Egle said. "So we are speechless that we won this race today.”
The duo were coming off six straight wins on the World Cup circuit, and won gold in the first-ever mixed doubles world championship on Thursday with teammates Thomas Steu and Wolfgang Kindl.
“I think this season is unbelievable," Egle said. "I think it couldn't go better than this, winning six World Cups in a row and then the world championships. It’s unbelievable. And I think it's a great pre-Olympic season.”
Germany's Jessica Degenhardt and Cheyenne Rosenthal set yet another record with their second run of the day, getting down the track in 38.806 seconds, and finished second with a combined time 0.029 seconds behind the Austrians.
Fellow Germans Dajana Eitberger and Magdalena Matschina came in third.
Canadians Beattie Podulsky and Kailey Allen, who hail from Calgary, finished eighth in their first season together.
“I think we've grown a lot as a doubles team," Allen said. "We did our very first two world cups together in Germany, went to Altenberg, and we had some rough runs in those but they were good learning experiences.
"It’s been a really good season to learn together and just with the sport as a whole.”
On the men's side, Hannes Orlamuender and Paul Constantin Gubitz of Germany took gold with a two-run time of 1:16.538.
Latvia's Martins Bots and Roberts Plume finished 0.102 back for the silver medal, and Germany's Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt came in third.
Canada's Devin Wardrope and Cole Anthony Zajanski — both from Calgary — came 12th among the 18 sleds from 10 nations.
“World championships itself is a huge deal, and having it at home, in front of friends and families, puts so much more pressure on you. But it was really fun. We enjoyed it," Wardrope said. "We had a good time, even though the results probably aren't at the spot that we wanted them. We still thought it was a really good race.”
The world championships continue Saturday with the men's singles and team relay races.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 7, 2025.
Gemma Karstens-Smith, The Canadian Press
