46

WEBVTT

1
00:00:09.830 --> 00:00:13.429
Before we get started with today's interview, I wanted to share a quick update

2
00:00:13.470 --> 00:00:19.109
from our junior national team coach,
Pat Anderson. Happy Holidays from the junior

3
00:00:19.149 --> 00:00:22.379
national team. While the athletes and
staff are home resting from a busy and

4
00:00:22.420 --> 00:00:25.660
eventful first half, I wanted to
take some time and recap the first half

5
00:00:25.699 --> 00:00:29.859
of our season. The Plon did
not disappoint. We waited a long year

6
00:00:29.859 --> 00:00:32.820
and a half to return to racing
and the team showed their hard work,

7
00:00:33.299 --> 00:00:37.210
highlighted with macgriner's double victory in the
junior men's class, as well as strong

8
00:00:37.289 --> 00:00:41.409
showings from our women's and boys doubles
teams. The whole team worked together very

9
00:00:41.450 --> 00:00:44.649
well to learn the lines from a
track that none of them had ever seen.

10
00:00:45.409 --> 00:00:48.929
After our successful return to racing,
we packed up in France and made

11
00:00:48.929 --> 00:00:52.359
the scenic journey through Italy on our
way to eagles, Austria for our next

12
00:00:52.399 --> 00:00:57.159
challenge. The track and Eagles was
very unforgiving right out of the gate and

13
00:00:57.719 --> 00:01:00.960
losing two athletes to injury was tough
for the team. After long, hard

14
00:01:02.000 --> 00:01:04.469
days put in by the athletes and
the track crew, things began to click

15
00:01:04.510 --> 00:01:10.030
again. We manage some strong results
for the team with limited experience on the

16
00:01:10.069 --> 00:01:14.430
unforgiving eagles track, and just like
that we were off to ober half for

17
00:01:14.510 --> 00:01:18.700
our last set of races before the
holiday break. We had a successful training

18
00:01:18.739 --> 00:01:21.939
camp and over half back in November, but that camp was cut short by

19
00:01:21.980 --> 00:01:25.980
a few days with our equipment getting
held up in customs. Those missed runs

20
00:01:26.060 --> 00:01:29.340
in November were costly to our team
as a whole. By the end of

21
00:01:29.379 --> 00:01:32.379
the races, each and every athlete
seemed one or two runs away from being

22
00:01:32.420 --> 00:01:36.370
very comfortable on the unique over half
track. By a Chan and rihanna wheeler

23
00:01:36.489 --> 00:01:40.049
were most definitely the most insistent all
week and it showed on race day,

24
00:01:40.209 --> 00:01:44.609
notching their best results of the season
so far. After six weeks in Europe,

25
00:01:44.609 --> 00:01:48.920
the team was ready for a break. We had back to Europe January

26
00:01:49.040 --> 00:01:52.439
four to resume racing on the new
and tricky track in Blue Dad's Austria,

27
00:01:52.920 --> 00:01:57.680
and then back to Germany for junior
worlds in Winterburg. All right, we

28
00:01:57.879 --> 00:02:01.469
are back. I hope everyone is
having a nice relaxing holiday. Today we

29
00:02:01.590 --> 00:02:07.069
are with two thousand and two Olympian
Ashley Hayden Walden. Hi, Brenda,

30
00:02:07.150 --> 00:02:10.550
thanks for having me. Good too. Good stocks everybody. Yeah, it's

31
00:02:10.590 --> 00:02:15.469
nice to welcome you on. We've
known each other for what, twenty five

32
00:02:15.509 --> 00:02:19.099
years? Yeah, I think so. Yeah, we started competing in junior

33
00:02:19.099 --> 00:02:23.500
world cups in Europe the same year
and did the whole travel thing for years

34
00:02:23.539 --> 00:02:29.500
and years together. Yeah, it's
a number of years. I think sixteen

35
00:02:29.539 --> 00:02:31.050
years or so we competed together,
right, I think so. Yeah,

36
00:02:31.490 --> 00:02:37.370
and I think our first season over
was six ninety seven, if I recall.

37
00:02:37.370 --> 00:02:40.849
Yes, Yep, hundred ninety seven. And then, because I remember

38
00:02:40.889 --> 00:02:46.159
us then preparing when with some of
the team as they were heading out to

39
00:02:46.199 --> 00:02:50.840
Nagao for ninety eight the following year. Yeah, when they opened the track

40
00:02:50.879 --> 00:02:54.879
out in Salt Lake. MMM.
Yeah, one of my biggest memories from

41
00:02:55.159 --> 00:03:00.669
that first season we had was when
we flew over to Europe and the first

42
00:03:00.750 --> 00:03:06.150
place we went was to Altenberg.
Do you remember this? And for some

43
00:03:06.349 --> 00:03:10.270
reason that people thought it would be
a good idea if I was writing shotgun

44
00:03:10.389 --> 00:03:15.580
with Clem Gat Gar, our coach
from Russia. He hadn't been over to

45
00:03:15.020 --> 00:03:19.900
Europe and years and years and as
a fifteen year old who had never been

46
00:03:19.979 --> 00:03:23.900
to Europe, I was his co
pilot. I was told to navigate to

47
00:03:23.020 --> 00:03:28.770
Altenburg to remember what he did,
and everybody needs to remember this is before

48
00:03:28.849 --> 00:03:31.889
there was gps or anything else.
We were navigating off of an old map.

49
00:03:32.050 --> 00:03:37.610
Map most of the time was so
large it took up when you unfolded

50
00:03:37.650 --> 00:03:40.169
it. It went from the driver's
side over to the passenger side. So

51
00:03:40.800 --> 00:03:45.759
I was given the duty of finding
Altenburg on the map, and I thought

52
00:03:45.800 --> 00:03:49.680
I did, and then telling Clem
how to get there, and none of

53
00:03:49.719 --> 00:03:53.080
us knew what we were doing.
Sure enough, we showed up and spell

54
00:03:53.159 --> 00:03:57.710
burdenberg right. Well, that was
the problem. I directed us to Altenberg

55
00:03:58.229 --> 00:04:02.629
BEU RG and not be Arg.
So we were driving around, but to

56
00:04:02.710 --> 00:04:06.629
get there, I mean you got
somewhere. I did get some it was

57
00:04:06.750 --> 00:04:11.259
just the wrong town. I will
say is one follow up to that.

58
00:04:11.780 --> 00:04:14.939
This is where I thought you were
going on our first trip over and first

59
00:04:15.020 --> 00:04:17.899
destination Europe was. This was the
first time I've ever been on an airplane

60
00:04:18.660 --> 00:04:23.579
and it was overseas. I remember
landing and obviously we were jet lagged and

61
00:04:23.819 --> 00:04:27.050
luckily I wasn't in your car,
so I made it to the correct Altenburg,

62
00:04:27.209 --> 00:04:32.329
but I remember the hotel. It
was a very creepy old East German

63
00:04:32.410 --> 00:04:35.689
hotel in the hill, in the
fog and in the middle of the night,

64
00:04:35.730 --> 00:04:40.720
randomly, the wind was blowing so
hard it blew the window open.

65
00:04:40.920 --> 00:04:44.439
To remember solutely. I don't think
we slept for weeks after that. No,

66
00:04:44.680 --> 00:04:47.480
no, that was what was that? The Luke Steinhoff? Luke Steinhoff

67
00:04:47.480 --> 00:04:53.550
up on the hill. Yep,
and a overlooked the check boarder and no

68
00:04:53.629 --> 00:04:58.230
question in my mind it was haunted, no question for sure. For sure

69
00:04:58.389 --> 00:05:03.750
wasn't mean that window and that window
it's so you finished eighth place at the

70
00:05:03.790 --> 00:05:08.740
Salt Lake City Olympics in two thousand
and two. What was your favorite moment

71
00:05:08.899 --> 00:05:15.139
representing Team USA? Oh boy,
it hard to narrow it down to one.

72
00:05:15.300 --> 00:05:19.500
I can narrow it down very easily
to two that stand out, I

73
00:05:19.620 --> 00:05:23.769
would say, you know, for
the for the Salt Lake Games, just

74
00:05:24.889 --> 00:05:28.850
it was obviously with a everything going
on in the world at that time and

75
00:05:29.170 --> 00:05:35.199
being just months after September eleven and
being you know, very few athletes actually

76
00:05:35.240 --> 00:05:41.079
get to compete at their Olympics in
their home nation. So that and the

77
00:05:41.800 --> 00:05:46.079
so walking into the opening ceremonies with
the level of patriotism in the country and

78
00:05:47.800 --> 00:05:51.750
obviously being in the US two and
being a first Olympics. Just that moment

79
00:05:53.029 --> 00:05:58.110
of walking into the opening ceremonies and
again, host nations, they always march

80
00:05:58.230 --> 00:06:01.589
in last. So the we were
the last nation to walk into a full

81
00:06:01.629 --> 00:06:09.259
stadium. That obviously was probably,
you know, the highlight and I would

82
00:06:09.259 --> 00:06:13.540
say the the followup to that was
the day, the actual day competition.

83
00:06:14.620 --> 00:06:17.850
We had our own little changing room
that was separate from all the other nations

84
00:06:18.089 --> 00:06:23.730
and I think I was the first
US athlete to go. I was a

85
00:06:23.810 --> 00:06:27.410
big number five and I think it
was the first and stepping up to the

86
00:06:27.529 --> 00:06:32.000
line and just looking down over the
course and it was a packed, packed

87
00:06:32.040 --> 00:06:36.879
venue. There was about five or
ten people deep along the starting ramp and

88
00:06:38.079 --> 00:06:41.959
everybody was just chanting. They would
hear the announcer say your name and they

89
00:06:42.000 --> 00:06:45.759
would chant you know, what nation
you are from in your last name and

90
00:06:46.680 --> 00:06:51.069
you know it was you're so nervous
prior to and for some reason that you

91
00:06:51.149 --> 00:06:54.750
know, caught me by surprise and
was able to, you know, help

92
00:06:54.990 --> 00:06:57.990
relax me a little bit in that
moment, but something I'll never forget.

93
00:06:58.029 --> 00:07:01.819
And obviously competing in a smaller sport
of Blues we don't get that that sort

94
00:07:01.899 --> 00:07:05.939
of fan base. So I think
that was a one in a million opportunity.

95
00:07:05.939 --> 00:07:10.300
Yeah, absolutely that. It was
in the US and all most of

96
00:07:10.379 --> 00:07:15.139
those people were Americans out there,
which has the bust. Fast forward a

97
00:07:15.220 --> 00:07:17.649
bet. You retired from the sport
and two thousand and eleven. What did

98
00:07:17.689 --> 00:07:21.889
you do professionally speaking? And so
after I retired from the sport, a

99
00:07:23.889 --> 00:07:30.000
retired midseason. I remember very quickly
getting back and just trying to I wanted

100
00:07:30.000 --> 00:07:31.800
to finish my degree and I was
well under way to do that. I

101
00:07:31.920 --> 00:07:36.120
had probably, I don't know,
for classes left, I think. So

102
00:07:36.279 --> 00:07:40.279
I quickly signed up for all four
of those classes so I can complete them

103
00:07:41.279 --> 00:07:47.790
in the winter and spring session and
started to work actually part time for Nice

104
00:07:47.829 --> 00:07:53.910
F, which is New York Ski
Educational Foundation here in Lake Actually Wilmington,

105
00:07:54.029 --> 00:07:58.069
based out of Whiteface Mountain, and
the opportunity opened up at the Olympic Training

106
00:07:58.110 --> 00:08:03.100
Center for a part time position and
I wanted to try and get back into

107
00:08:03.300 --> 00:08:07.699
Olympic sports or at least get some
sort of experience there. So I started

108
00:08:09.019 --> 00:08:15.009
working both of those jobs and within
a few months a position opened up at

109
00:08:15.089 --> 00:08:20.850
USA Bob Sun Skeleton for their operations
coordinator. So I applied and was fortunate

110
00:08:20.970 --> 00:08:26.399
to get that position and ended up
spending seven years with USA Bob Sun Skeleton,

111
00:08:28.560 --> 00:08:33.039
about a year in the operations coordinator
and then moving on up to Director

112
00:08:33.080 --> 00:08:37.320
of Sport, which I think I
was there for about six five or six

113
00:08:37.360 --> 00:08:41.509
years in that position and then I
left us a Bobsun skeleton in two thousand

114
00:08:41.549 --> 00:08:46.789
and nineteen and now the executive director
for the adder on deck North Country Sports

115
00:08:46.870 --> 00:08:52.990
Council and in our biggest job at
the moment at the Sports Council is forming

116
00:08:52.990 --> 00:08:56.460
the organizing committee for the two thousand
and twenty three World University Games here in

117
00:08:56.539 --> 00:09:03.539
like placid. Talus. Exactly what
the World University Games are? They're actually

118
00:09:03.539 --> 00:09:13.169
the largest multisport university winter university event
in the world. We are preparing they

119
00:09:13.169 --> 00:09:18.370
happen every two years and if we
put it in the Olympic model, it's

120
00:09:18.409 --> 00:09:22.370
very similar. There's a set of
the IOC, there's a rights holder that's

121
00:09:22.370 --> 00:09:28.639
called Fi. Suit stands for in
a National University Sports Federation. Every country

122
00:09:28.679 --> 00:09:33.240
has their own university sports federation and
just very similar to the US. Oh

123
00:09:33.279 --> 00:09:39.269
See, there's a US entity here
in the United States called the United States

124
00:09:39.309 --> 00:09:46.110
International University Sports Federation. It is
again. These games happen every two years.

125
00:09:46.269 --> 00:09:50.429
Is a winter and a summer edition. It draws about fifty nations,

126
00:09:52.179 --> 00:09:58.860
normally about one six hundred athletes.
And last eleven days we are we are

127
00:10:00.340 --> 00:10:05.299
planning for twelve sports that will be
contested over the eleven days. It includes

128
00:10:05.340 --> 00:10:09.690
eighty six metal events and those states
are January twelve to the twenty two of

129
00:10:09.730 --> 00:10:16.129
two thousand and twenty three. It's
coming up just over a year. We

130
00:10:16.210 --> 00:10:20.289
are in the final stages of planning
our one year out event and we're have

131
00:10:20.600 --> 00:10:24.240
quite a bit to do in a
short amount of time. So yeah,

132
00:10:24.399 --> 00:10:30.679
very busy these days, I but
and so I'm assuming that all the events

133
00:10:30.720 --> 00:10:35.600
are events that are in universities.
So there won't be a louge event.

134
00:10:35.990 --> 00:10:39.950
Now there's not. There's actually no
sliding sports because of the relatively small pools.

135
00:10:41.590 --> 00:10:46.789
The requirements for competing in the University
Games are, if to be between

136
00:10:46.830 --> 00:10:50.820
the age of seventeen twenty five and
enrolled in at least one college course,

137
00:10:52.019 --> 00:10:58.820
either online or at an actual university. So there's there's a lot of opportunity,

138
00:10:58.860 --> 00:11:03.289
but there's not quite enough within the
sliding sports. It has been.

139
00:11:03.370 --> 00:11:07.889
There's been over a thousand athletes that
have competed in university games that have gone

140
00:11:07.929 --> 00:11:11.929
on to compete in wind metals in
the Olympic Games. So it's often seen

141
00:11:11.970 --> 00:11:16.649
as as a pipeline or development tool
for the elite level athletes. I'd be

142
00:11:16.769 --> 00:11:22.120
remiss to not mention that you're married
to Swedish slider banked Walden. You got

143
00:11:22.200 --> 00:11:26.080
married in two thousand and six,
correct yet, and then he went on

144
00:11:26.159 --> 00:11:30.679
to compete for the US. In
two thousand and ten he became an American

145
00:11:30.759 --> 00:11:35.629
citizen, competed in Vancouver and now, of course, we all know him

146
00:11:35.629 --> 00:11:39.789
as coach banked. He is on
the road with the senior national team,

147
00:11:39.269 --> 00:11:43.629
doing the World Cups with them.
What's it like to be married to a

148
00:11:43.830 --> 00:11:48.899
coach who's gone a month at a
time? You know, it's it provides

149
00:11:48.940 --> 00:11:52.019
its challenges. We have two young
kids. We've been eight year olds and

150
00:11:52.139 --> 00:11:56.539
a soon to be three year old, so that makes it the most difficult,

151
00:11:56.659 --> 00:12:01.090
but obviously this is a sport that
I was involved in for over sixteen

152
00:12:01.169 --> 00:12:07.250
years. You know, this is
nothing new. I completely understand the how

153
00:12:07.370 --> 00:12:11.450
the travel works and I think that
that obviously plays a big role and,

154
00:12:13.769 --> 00:12:18.240
you know, not be not only
being able to understand and adapt to it,

155
00:12:18.399 --> 00:12:22.679
but know what to expect on a
daily, weekly and, in this

156
00:12:22.840 --> 00:12:28.360
case, monthly basis. But excited
that he's able to continue to work with

157
00:12:28.440 --> 00:12:33.190
the sport that he loves and especially
at this level, and looking forward to

158
00:12:33.269 --> 00:12:37.389
seeing what the US team can do
here in Beijing. I bet it was

159
00:12:37.429 --> 00:12:39.710
nice to have him home for Christmas, Allen, when really must have had

160
00:12:39.750 --> 00:12:43.070
a good time with him. Oh
yeah, they were very excited to have

161
00:12:43.110 --> 00:12:48.539
him home. It's always a short
and very pack trip, but we did

162
00:12:48.620 --> 00:12:54.460
enjoy a lot of good family time
together and he had a long honey do

163
00:12:54.620 --> 00:12:58.850
list, but we got through all
of it, so that's awesome. Did

164
00:12:58.929 --> 00:13:03.490
he have anything to share with you
that surprised you from the life on the

165
00:13:03.529 --> 00:13:09.649
road and two thousand and twenty one, obviously with you know, with covid

166
00:13:09.769 --> 00:13:13.720
and all of the travel restrictions and
there, you know cup their three weeks

167
00:13:13.759 --> 00:13:16.679
that they spent in China. There
was a lot of things that were very,

168
00:13:16.919 --> 00:13:20.320
you know, I would say eye
opening or different from back in the

169
00:13:20.399 --> 00:13:24.240
days when we used to travel.
So it's been interesting to see and to

170
00:13:24.360 --> 00:13:30.909
hear about what it's like to travel
during a pandemic and to see how their

171
00:13:31.509 --> 00:13:35.909
how the fil is able to pull
off these events and and do it very

172
00:13:35.950 --> 00:13:43.779
successfully. So definitely some interesting things
over the past yeah, I guess over

173
00:13:43.820 --> 00:13:48.299
a year now at this point during
the season. I've interviewed lose alumni talking

174
00:13:48.379 --> 00:13:52.860
about their experiences qualifying for the Olympic
Games and every one of them talked about

175
00:13:52.899 --> 00:13:58.649
how stressful it is. And look
just compared to a normal season, it's

176
00:13:58.690 --> 00:14:03.490
just exponentially more stressful. I imagine
that it's got to be similar for a

177
00:14:03.610 --> 00:14:07.850
coach, a lot more stressful during
an Olympic year. Yeah, for sure.

178
00:14:07.009 --> 00:14:11.559
Obviously the yeah, there's there's quite
a bit of work that goes into

179
00:14:11.559 --> 00:14:15.639
any season for a coach, you
know, the the preparation in the offseason,

180
00:14:15.799 --> 00:14:18.360
from the physical training to the sled
work. But then you've got this

181
00:14:18.440 --> 00:14:24.509
extra stress and pressure because all of
the athletes are, you know, this

182
00:14:24.629 --> 00:14:28.309
is their marquie event, this is
what they've been working for past for eight,

183
00:14:28.549 --> 00:14:31.750
you know, twelve years for some
of them. So the coaches are

184
00:14:31.750 --> 00:14:37.710
feeling that pressure too and they obviously
want to help every athlete reach their their

185
00:14:37.710 --> 00:14:41.820
highest level and make sure that they
have all the tools necessary to be able

186
00:14:41.820 --> 00:14:46.940
to achieve their so definitely an added
stress level, I think you know,

187
00:14:46.059 --> 00:14:52.220
from coaching, administration and obviously athletes
side. Add covid to the top of

188
00:14:52.299 --> 00:14:56.409
that. So rest insanity, right
and yeah, and that's that's certainly,

189
00:14:56.450 --> 00:15:00.769
I think, been a much larger, you know, stress factor in the

190
00:15:00.850 --> 00:15:05.409
people can imagine, because there's a
there's a large testing regiment that they have

191
00:15:05.450 --> 00:15:11.440
to go through and a positive test, even if it becomes a false positive,

192
00:15:11.480 --> 00:15:15.840
could, you know, at the
worst timing, put an athlete that

193
00:15:15.919 --> 00:15:22.269
has qualified for the Games Audi contention. So certainly that adds quite a bit

194
00:15:22.309 --> 00:15:28.309
of stress to the whole equation.
I just saw that Mikaela Scheffron on the

195
00:15:28.350 --> 00:15:33.590
US ski team tested positive and I
read an article about how, I think

196
00:15:33.669 --> 00:15:37.379
what we saw at the beginning of
the season when our athletes went to Beijing

197
00:15:37.620 --> 00:15:43.539
some word testing positive, even though
they weren't positive. It was just leftovers

198
00:15:43.700 --> 00:15:48.299
from former COVID suretive results, just
such a high sensitivity in the testing.

199
00:15:48.419 --> 00:15:52.649
Yeah, exactly. And so I
was reading how, I mean athletes like

200
00:15:52.850 --> 00:16:00.049
Mikaela or anyone who could get positive
now are running the risk of testing positive

201
00:16:00.049 --> 00:16:07.000
during Beijing and that's scary thought.
Yeah, it is scary and and obviously

202
00:16:07.879 --> 00:16:11.279
I hope that she's healthy and continues
on to to be able to compete in

203
00:16:11.360 --> 00:16:15.720
that doesn't become a factor. But
I think that's also an added level for

204
00:16:15.799 --> 00:16:23.190
the coaches is that they are super
careful because they obviously don't want to get

205
00:16:23.230 --> 00:16:29.830
it and then potentially infect an athlete
and that's just a high level of risk

206
00:16:29.909 --> 00:16:33.580
and again adds to a whole another
level astress. So we were speaking of

207
00:16:33.620 --> 00:16:37.980
qualifying and I'd like to do a
quick recap of the first half of the

208
00:16:37.019 --> 00:16:42.139
season. Emily Sweeney's the only athlete
with an a tier with her fifth place

209
00:16:42.220 --> 00:16:48.490
finish in Altenburg summer. Britcher and
Ashley Far Quarson Have B Tier qualifications.

210
00:16:48.169 --> 00:16:52.490
Brittany aren't is still fighting to get
that a B or C tier qualification.

211
00:16:52.929 --> 00:17:00.090
And men's singles Tucker Weston Johnny Gustafson
have stier qualifications. Chris Masters looking to

212
00:17:00.129 --> 00:17:04.079
firm up a qualification tier. Then
in doubles the team of Master Tournament are

213
00:17:04.160 --> 00:17:08.599
close to a seatier qualification. They
need a ten place to reach that and

214
00:17:08.880 --> 00:17:15.039
catalog seeger and D Gregorio and Hollander
can pull off either a B or Cetier

215
00:17:15.119 --> 00:17:18.670
during the next two races in Winnerburg
and sequel do us. So we've got

216
00:17:18.470 --> 00:17:26.349
two more races looking ahead that they
can all firm up those qualifications. Yes,

217
00:17:26.430 --> 00:17:30.220
so the obviously with the qualifications.
They've got two racist left so to

218
00:17:30.339 --> 00:17:33.819
really be interesting to see how this
plates out. I think the other new

219
00:17:33.940 --> 00:17:40.660
factor for this year is the FIL's
change in the qualify cation. So there's

220
00:17:40.740 --> 00:17:45.329
not guaranteed three spots, for example
in the men's single side. So they

221
00:17:45.170 --> 00:17:49.890
really has to be a team effort
from all of the competitors to try and

222
00:17:49.930 --> 00:17:53.089
qualify as many slews as possible.
So or two of the races left to

223
00:17:53.130 --> 00:17:57.920
go. It'll be interesting to see
how it plays out. Absolutely in two

224
00:17:57.960 --> 00:18:02.759
thousand and five you had your best
ever finish, a third place in winner

225
00:18:02.799 --> 00:18:07.079
Burg. I always remember you doing
really well on that track. What about

226
00:18:07.119 --> 00:18:11.119
winner Burg worked for you? Interesting? I definitely had quite a few successful

227
00:18:11.119 --> 00:18:17.789
races there, that one being the
best result, and normally that would be

228
00:18:17.869 --> 00:18:22.430
a track that I would say would
not have suited me the best because different

229
00:18:22.470 --> 00:18:26.549
from the updated version of winner Burg
that you see that you'll see this weekend,

230
00:18:26.660 --> 00:18:30.539
it was a very steep ramp which
normally the start was my strong suit.

231
00:18:32.099 --> 00:18:36.420
So a flatter ramp normally would have
suited me better, but there was

232
00:18:36.539 --> 00:18:41.769
just something about the track. The
the upper part of the track it was

233
00:18:41.849 --> 00:18:45.849
very flat after you got through the
through the start ramp, and the bottom

234
00:18:47.490 --> 00:18:49.769
part of the course is very steep. So you had to carry quite a

235
00:18:49.809 --> 00:18:55.210
bit of speed down to the bottom
course and the middle part of the section

236
00:18:55.529 --> 00:19:00.640
there's a couple of key steers and
drives that, you know, I always

237
00:19:00.680 --> 00:19:03.839
felt I had dialed in pretty well
and I think that that just allowed me

238
00:19:03.920 --> 00:19:08.359
to carry a lot of speed to
the bottom part of the course. So

239
00:19:08.480 --> 00:19:12.950
I think the just really had a
good understanding for the track and it always

240
00:19:12.990 --> 00:19:18.950
seemed to suit me well. So
you mentioned changes in the track. I

241
00:19:19.150 --> 00:19:23.420
know I never slid on the track
with the new changes. Did you ever

242
00:19:23.539 --> 00:19:26.819
have a chance to? Yeah,
I forget what year they opened it,

243
00:19:26.940 --> 00:19:33.460
but I definitely did a few races
from the new track. When they moved

244
00:19:33.500 --> 00:19:37.059
it up to the I think it
went into curve one or they actually created

245
00:19:37.099 --> 00:19:42.410
a little start curve up there.
Really interesting because the ramp then was very

246
00:19:42.490 --> 00:19:47.769
flat, or is very flat now. So even though you're starting much higher,

247
00:19:48.009 --> 00:19:53.599
I don't feel like the overall bottom
speed was much higher because the old

248
00:19:53.720 --> 00:19:57.559
ramp was very steep. So you
had quite a bit of speed heading into

249
00:19:57.599 --> 00:20:03.680
that that section, but certainly a
few extra curves that the women's field didn't

250
00:20:03.720 --> 00:20:07.309
have to drive. So that was
interesting to try and figure those out,

251
00:20:07.349 --> 00:20:12.869
especially at a at a very low
speed. The old ramp is actually what

252
00:20:14.029 --> 00:20:19.670
doubles still use right now. So, and I remember very specifically, there

253
00:20:19.829 --> 00:20:23.900
was some interesting stuff that could happen
on that ramp and going into that sturt

254
00:20:25.220 --> 00:20:29.220
curve. Yeah, I think all
of us fell victim to that start curve

255
00:20:29.299 --> 00:20:34.259
at least once, but absolutely sure, misplaced paddle or not, a good

256
00:20:34.299 --> 00:20:40.490
set up or a bad cut into
that curve definitely known to put you on

257
00:20:40.609 --> 00:20:45.650
your face. But so for doubles
keep an eye on that start curve there.

258
00:20:45.890 --> 00:20:48.009
So you mentioned the speed and winner
Bergain. It's one of those tracks

259
00:20:48.089 --> 00:20:52.920
that the speeds are very fast but
like you said that the top curves of

260
00:20:52.000 --> 00:20:56.039
the track are pretty flat, so
really it takes a while to get that

261
00:20:56.240 --> 00:21:00.039
speed going. I think it's maybe
until the exit of curve eleven when you

262
00:21:00.160 --> 00:21:04.869
start picking up that really high speed. Yeah, the curve it starts to

263
00:21:04.869 --> 00:21:10.150
drop in and curve nine drops quite
a bit. So if you stand at

264
00:21:10.190 --> 00:21:14.589
the at the beginning and the entrance
to that curve and you look down,

265
00:21:15.029 --> 00:21:18.029
you know the exit of that is
probably a couple of stories below you.

266
00:21:18.819 --> 00:21:22.779
And also interesting too is that,
you'll remember, there's a very short labyrinth

267
00:21:22.819 --> 00:21:26.460
after and then the track goes uphill
quite a bit. So that top speed

268
00:21:26.500 --> 00:21:30.980
which you think for a while was
one of the fastest in the world,

269
00:21:30.980 --> 00:21:36.769
probably before Vancouver was built, but
it's such a short amount of time that

270
00:21:36.849 --> 00:21:41.329
you're at that speed before it goes
uphill. So really an interesting track and

271
00:21:41.529 --> 00:21:45.690
interesting turn from that bottom section.
Yeah, and you can lose quite a

272
00:21:45.849 --> 00:21:52.319
bit of time on that uphell portion
in the finish curve. Yeah, for

273
00:21:52.440 --> 00:21:56.599
sure, and often you'll see.
Something else to look out for in the

274
00:21:56.640 --> 00:22:00.319
races is that if you enter two
too early into that final curve, I

275
00:22:00.359 --> 00:22:06.589
think it's curve fourteen, it does
set the sled into a skid and even

276
00:22:06.710 --> 00:22:11.789
people that are have a hugely going
into their will come out of that curve

277
00:22:11.390 --> 00:22:17.099
losing tense. So Tone, interesting
Hans of time, interesting spot. Yeah,

278
00:22:17.539 --> 00:22:21.579
yeah, and then so the big
I'm trying to remember. Eight.

279
00:22:21.940 --> 00:22:25.859
Nine. Are the curves that go
in the same direction to the left?

280
00:22:26.019 --> 00:22:30.609
Correct? No, nine, hundred
and ten, nine, ten, and

281
00:22:30.690 --> 00:22:36.210
it's it all basically makes one big
curve right and appears to be two curves,

282
00:22:36.289 --> 00:22:41.970
but it's really one trajectory. So
one similar curve right and depending on

283
00:22:42.049 --> 00:22:47.920
how they form the ice, you
remember sometimes it sometimes it really was two

284
00:22:48.000 --> 00:22:52.640
curves or sometimes it almost was just
one long extension. So it changed every

285
00:22:52.680 --> 00:22:56.319
year. So it was always the
the spot we'd go and watch. A

286
00:22:56.440 --> 00:23:02.789
couple weeks ago I posted a picture
of the flag at the end of Altenberg

287
00:23:03.190 --> 00:23:07.190
KREISL. Do you remember the Red
Flags? And Yep, and I said

288
00:23:07.430 --> 00:23:11.670
if you know, you know,
and and basically what that meant was if

289
00:23:11.789 --> 00:23:17.740
you have slid in Altenberg, you
know that that red flag is a visual

290
00:23:17.819 --> 00:23:23.099
que to start driving in winner bird. There's something similar right the the orange

291
00:23:23.259 --> 00:23:27.210
call box. Yeah, and I
wonder if it's still there, but yeah,

292
00:23:27.210 --> 00:23:30.410
it's got a bit old and they
buy I. I mean they had

293
00:23:30.450 --> 00:23:34.410
to spray paint to it that bright
orange on purpose. Maybe it's an emergency

294
00:23:34.450 --> 00:23:40.289
phone, I don't know, but
definitely was ours. Yeah, when you're

295
00:23:40.529 --> 00:23:45.160
watching this weekend. Keep an eye
on curve nine and you'll see that call

296
00:23:45.240 --> 00:23:49.559
box and it's I am blue.
I don't know if you remember or if

297
00:23:49.559 --> 00:23:53.319
you did this, but I used
to also in Chrysol, because Chryso was

298
00:23:53.400 --> 00:23:57.829
really important in Winderburg for the setup. You had to get the exit correct

299
00:23:59.269 --> 00:24:03.789
to set up that bottom portion of
the course and there was a trash can,

300
00:24:03.710 --> 00:24:07.750
yes, a trash can in that
last part and I used to use

301
00:24:07.789 --> 00:24:12.059
that as a signal for driving.
Yep, and then it would it didn't

302
00:24:12.059 --> 00:24:15.339
always work, as if there was
a big crowd of Krysl sometimes, like

303
00:24:15.579 --> 00:24:21.940
where's the trash can? Yeah,
that would foil your plans. Yeah.

304
00:24:22.339 --> 00:24:26.809
What other problem areas are there?
So we talked about the start curve for

305
00:24:26.930 --> 00:24:32.289
doubles. I would say exit chrysol
eight, because curse seven. Eight can

306
00:24:32.329 --> 00:24:37.680
be nasty, and then to eleven. Yeah, and being really that that

307
00:24:38.039 --> 00:24:42.000
entrance into fourteen, that finished curve. Yeah, because you want to see

308
00:24:42.000 --> 00:24:48.119
if athletes are carrying the speed into
that uphill portion at the end. Yeah,

309
00:24:48.119 --> 00:24:52.789
if you see any type of skidding
going into that big left hand uphell

310
00:24:52.950 --> 00:24:57.950
curve, no chance of winning a
medal in that. Yeah, Ashley,

311
00:24:57.950 --> 00:25:02.029
thank you so much for taking time. I'm on, you know, this

312
00:25:02.190 --> 00:25:06.750
holiday break to chat and thanks for
the opportunity and excited to watch the race

313
00:25:06.829 --> 00:25:11.900
and hopefully see a number of lose
fans up in like placid. Awesome.

314
00:25:11.180 --> 00:25:18.819
Thank you very much. All right, thanks very bye. Fun Times catching

315
00:25:18.859 --> 00:25:22.650
up with an old friend. Ashley
Walden. Thanks for joining us on our

316
00:25:22.690 --> 00:25:26.569
little adventure today. Have you shared
this podcast with your friends and family?

317
00:25:26.490 --> 00:25:30.890
Have you rated and reviewed it?
Please do so soon. Be Sure to

318
00:25:30.930 --> 00:25:33.529
follow us a loge on facebook,
instagram and twitter, and you can always

319
00:25:33.529 --> 00:25:37.400
go to us a loge dot org
for more information about the team. All

320
00:25:37.440 --> 00:25:41.880
of us at US A loge hope
you've had a safe and restful holiday,

321
00:25:41.279 --> 00:25:45.640
happy New Year and make sure you
tune in this weekend to watch the Winderburg

322
00:25:45.720 --> 00:25:49.000
World Cup on the Olympic Channel.
Thank you for listening to blink, a

323
00:25:49.069 --> 00:25:53.509
podcast about what it takes to want
to lose race in the blink of an

324
00:25:53.549 -->
eye.