US Luger—and Huntingtonian—Discusses Tragic Olympic Accident and Looks To 2014

As the 2010 winter Olympic Games kicked off in Vancouver,  many viewers learned more about a sport which often doesn't receive the attention usually reserved for skiers and skaters. Luge – an event in which riders race on sled-like toboggans down a track while on their backs – came center stage after the disastrous crash right before the opening ceremonies Friday, Feb. 12.

A native Huntington township resident, Matt Mortensen, who competes across the globe with teammate Preston Grifall in the doubles luge, watched with a bit more comprehension and compassion than most the horrific accident at Whistler Blackcomb Sliding Centre in which Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili, 21, lost his life when his sled crashed during a training run and he hit a metal pole.

"The luge family is a very close-knit family. Nodar's death was unbelievably tragic," Mortensen said. "We're not a big sport. There are only six tracks in the U.S. We all train together. It definitely affected all of us."

After Kumaritashvili's accident, the doubles track was  modified and the sliders will use the junior start.

Mortensen said that, while tragic, he does not feel the accident was the fault of the Olympic host. "In Canada's support, I don't think that track is super dangerous. I've competed at that track. I've trained at that track. The track at Whistler is definitely very fast. But I also don't think it's as dangerous as the media makes it out to be. Luge is a sport that no one is really focused on, until the Olympics come around. Bad crashes have happened in the four years [between Olympic Games] but you're just not paying attention to it."

The Coroners Service of British Columbia and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, determined that Friday's fatal accident involving Kumaritashvili was the result of pilot error, according to a press release on the Team USA web site.

His feelings are based on more than a decade of involvement in the sport. Matt first got involved as a 10-year-old. "My father works for Verizon, which has been a main sponsor for USA Luge for about 25 years. One time, they brought flyers for try-outs into his office," said Matt." So my dad asks me if I want to try out for the team, and I said 'yes,' and since then, it's been kind of a done-deal situation."

Within two years, Matt made the US Junior Development team. The only problem was, they trained in Lake Placid, New York, the home base of USA Luge – easily a six-hour drive from Long Island. Starting in the sixth grade, Matt would leave school from October to March at St. Dominic's in Oyster Bay, in order to train. He would go up all summer for training camps, and then a couple of weeks during the winter.

He got to travel all over North America and Europe on competitions. He competed in his first Junior World Cup when he was 13.

 "St. Dominic's would send homework out to me, that I would complete while I was gone." He had a tutor, whom he would sit with two hours a day.

He said his parents may not have known what they were getting in to at first, but they quickly learned. "I don't think so, exactly. But they got a good idea after that first year," Matt laughs. "I was always the kind of kid who did my own thing. I come from a big family, but I was always the one who tried to do things on my own." Matt has six brothers and sisters.

Matt nevertheless was able to keep his training up, and graduate from St. Dominick's on time, with good grades.

After high school, Matt joined the US National Luge team.

Having barely lost a spot on the team that is racing now in Vancouver, he is now classified as an "Olympic alternate." A December competition in Lillehammer, Norway was where he learned of his fate.

"I'm just training right now…getting better than the guys who beat me. We have a national competition in two weeks." The last big luge event to take place this season is the National Championships mid-March in Lake Placid. Check out the EarthCam web camera's live view of the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid.

Personal /Career Info: (Courtesy of USA Luge Team)

Best-Ever Results

• Matthew and Preston finished 9th at the 2009 41st World Championships (Lake Placid)
• Matthew is the 2005 overall Junior (to age 20) World Cup doubles champion, and a two-time overall silver medalists (2003 & 2004), with Garon Thorne
• Matthew and Garon Thorne raced to the 2003 Verizon U.S. Junior National Championship
• Preston finished eighth at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games, in Torino, Italy, with teammate Dan Joye
• Preston is a two-time Junior World champion (2002 & 2003), with Dan Joye
• Preston is a two-time overall Junior World Cup champion (2002 & 2003), with Dan Joye
• Matthew and Preston are the 2007 Verizon U.S. National Championship bronze medalists
• 2008 Verizon U.S. National Championship silver medalists

2009-2010 Results

• 2009-2010 World Cup Results: 14th, 8th, 20th, 12th
• Team Relay: 4th
• Challenge Cup: 7th

Fun Facts

• Matthew plays guitar as a hobby
• Matthew comes from a family of nine
• Matthew's favorite place to race is Oberhof, Germany
• Preston's hobbies: golf, mountain biking and skimboarding if he's near an ocean
• Preston's favorite movie is "Top Gun" and he likes to listen to DJ Tiesto
• Preston's favorite CD is "Shut Your Mouth and Open Your Eyes" -- AFI