Tuesday, February 12, 2002
Connelly comes up huge in luge
By BRUCE GARRIOCH -- Sun Media
SALT LAKE CITY -- It was no Miracle on Ice, but it was close for Canada.
While Kyle Connelly didn't bring home a medal, the Ottawa native had Canada's best showing on the Olympic stage since 1980 by registering an 11th-place finish in the luge men's singles competition at Utah Olympic Park.
Canada had three top-20 finishes as Chris Moffatt was 14th and Tyler Seitz finished 19th.
"This is huge," said Connelly, 21 and who has made his home in Calgary since 1987. "I don't even think it's fully set in yet that I'm in 11th place in the world at the Olympic Games.
"Everybody did really well. This should be good for us. We've had some good finishes and this should be really good for our confidence."
Competing at his first Games, Connelly was just trying to get into the top 15. He knew it was going to be difficult, but he came into Salt Lake focused on having a good performance by putting whatever nerves there were aside.
Connelly's 11th-place finish matched Canada's best result in men's luge singles at the Games. Bruce Smith also placed 11th at Lake Placid in 1980.
"I knew that getting into the top 15 would be really tough and I didn't know if it was quite realistic," said Connelly. "But I just came in here and relaxed. Everything really went well for me. You have good runs and it gives you confidence.
"Being 11th at the Olympics is just amazing for me. It means that I can be one of the top competitors in the world and I'm really close to getting into the top 10. You get there and just about anything can happen."
Italy's Armin Zoeggeler won the gold with a time of 2:57.941 in four runs while Germany's Georg Hackl was second and Markus Prock of Austria was third. Connelly finished at 2:59.723.
Now that he's finished his competition, Connelly plans on moving into the Athletes' Village to enjoy the rest of the Olympics. He won't be taking part in the two-man luge which will give him a chance to have a break.
2002 Games Luge Coverage
