Venues
Whistler Sliding Centre
Last Updated: Wednesday, January 13, 2010 | 6:15 PM ET
New York Times, for CBC Sports
View of the Sliding Centre in Whistler during training of the Luge athletes. The site is one of the venues for the 2010 Winter Olympics. (Stephanie Lamy/AFP/Getty Images)The United States bobsledder Steven Holcomb taped a sign on Curve 13 at the Whistler Sliding Center with the message “Curve 50/50.” The message is both poignant and ominous.
In Holcomb’s view — one shared by others — sledders have only a 50 percent chance of making it through the curve without crashing.
The curve is part of what has been nicknamed the Gold Trail, marking Curves 12-15. The stretch, athletes have surmised, is where gold medals will be won or lost because of the rapid speed attained.
That is just one of the features of the site of the bobsled, luge and skeleton events at Whistler, located on the southeast flank of Blackcomb Mountain. The track is expected to register speeds of close to 100 miles an hour in some events. Felix Loch of Germany has already recorded the fastest speed in luge at 95.68 m.p.h. during the World Cup season finale.
Construction of the site began in June 2005 and was completed December 2007. The site can accommodate 11,650 spectators for the Olympics.
Luge will take place Feb. 13-17, skeleton Feb. 18-19 and bobsled Feb. 20-23 and Feb. 26-27.
