Soldiers to compete in Olympics Luge

Soldier Trio Nominated to U.S. Olympic Luge Team
U.S. Army Installation Management Command
By Tim Hipps

PARK CITY, Utah, Jan. 23, 2014 – Three soldiers from the U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program earned nominations for the U.S. Olympic Luge Team for the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.

U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program members Sgt. Matt Mortensen and Sgt. Preston Griffall earn a berth in the 2014 Olympic Winter Games by virtue of their World Cup performances, including this run to a ninth-place finish in luge doubles at Utah Olympic Park in Park City, Utah, Dec. 13, 2013. Team USA luge coach Staff Sgt. Bill Tavares will join Mortensen and Griffall at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

Team USA luge coach Staff Sgt. Bill Tavares will lead Sgt. Matt Mortensen and Sgt. Preston Griffall, who secured their spot with a ninth-place finish in doubles at the Luge World Cup stop, Dec. 13, 2013, at Utah Olympic Park.

The U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program, or WCAP, duo completed its first run down the 1,335-meter track that features 15 curves in 43.948 seconds, followed by a shakier slide down the mountain in 44.132 seconds -- for a cumulative time of 1:28.080. Germany's Tobias Wendl and Bvias Arlt won the race with a 1:27.326 clocking.

"There's always a little bit of pressure when you're sliding, but for Preston and I, the main thing was just get down to the finish without walls -- do something that you've done hundreds of times, and just do it OK," said Mortensen, 28, of Huntington Station, N.Y. "Second run, I tried not to do it OK, but we still managed to get down without any walls."

Griffall, a 2006 Olympian who just missed making the team in 2010, had even more reason to be concerned. As the bottom guy on a doubles team, it's often difficult to see what is happening.

"Our second run, like Matt said, we had some problems on the run," said Griffall, 29, of Salt Lake City, Utah. "There's a big scoreboard, actually, behind curve 14 -- because I can't see directly in front of me because Matt's sitting there -- so I was turned around and trying to look at the scoreboard to see what place we were in. And we're still traveling at 60 or 70 miles per hour, and I couldn't see where the place was on the board."

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