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On the sport, training and prepping for the games...
Luge is the highest level of sled racing. It's taking the fastest most maneuverable sleds down the track and hitting the highest speeds. Most luge athletes would say their favorite aspect of the sport is the speed. It's a great sensation to be going that fast and to go into these curves and to have the sled pick up and the G-forces push you into the sled as you carve around the curves of the track. It is an amazing rush!
There is more to training besides the physical aspect. So much of it is mental. In the months leading up to the games we are not only trying to fine tune our equipment and fine tune our sliding, but we're really working hard to visualize our runs. We're mentally breaking down the different aspects of each pass, from start to finish. We're playing the run over and over in our minds, with the ultimate finish being a gold medal.
Right now, most of the equipment is pretty well-set and with three more races left, we have our eyes on the games. We are using these last few races to pull it all together (regarding technique and mental toughness). We are going out there to race as fast as we can. By doing so, we hope to win these last couple of races and create some momentum as we head into Torino. This is really what it is all about.
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Mark Grimmette
Born: Jan. 23, 1971, Ann Arbor, MI
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 198 lbs.
Resides in Muskegon, MI
Career Highlights:
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Along with his partner, Brian Martin, USA Luge's all-time leaders in int'l medals won, 61, including Olympic, World Championship, World Cup & Challenge Cup (2,18,17 & 24) |
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2002 XIX Olympic silver medallists, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA |
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1998 XVIII Olympic bronze medallists, Nagano, Japan |
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Three-time overall World Cup Champions (1998, 1999 & 2003), 2000 overall World Cup bronze medallists |
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11 World Cup wins gives them the all-time USA Luge lead for career victories |
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Four-time World Championship bronze medallists (1999, 2000, 2004 & 2005) |
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Two-time world championship team event silver medallists (2004 & 2005) |
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Two-time overall Challenge Cup silver medallists (2000 & 2001) |
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Two-time consecutive Challenge Cup Champions (2002 & 2003) |
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2000 Winter Goodwill Games Champions |
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Four-time Verizon North American Champions (2000, 200, 2002 & 2004) |
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Verizon U.S. National Champions (1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2005 & 2005-06) |
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2005-06 World Cup results: 13th, 9th, 10th, 1st, 10th, |
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Winter 2005 World Cup team event gold medallists (Dec. 10, 2005) |
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2005-06 Verizon U.S. national champions |
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Fall 2005 World Cup team event gold medallists (Dec. 10) |
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Finished sixth in the 2005 Meransan, Italy Int'l start championships |
Fun Facts:
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Grimmette and Martin have their own Web site, grimmettemartin.com |
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Mark was one of eight athletes to carry the World Trade Center flag during the opening ceremonies of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games |
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Mark is the oldest athlete on the team and is often called "Papa Mark" |
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Mark's favorite meal while growing up was pancakes |
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Mark's favorite athlete is Michael Johnson |
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Mark has two sisters and one brother |
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| These athletes carry the hopes of a nation on their shoulders as they compete for Gold in Torino. |
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