Roswell Slides Into Olympic History
Raychel Germaine does Roswell proud as a participant in the inaugural Winter Youth Olympic Games.
By Current Staff
Profiled in our last edition, Raychel Germaine, an Olympic Luger (or Slider as they are known) had a memorable experience placing a respectable 14th overall in the inaugural Winter Youth Olympics. Considering the fact that Germaine is from Roswell, and not some Swiss alpine village, it was an incredible achievement and one that did not come without a few hurdles to cross.
During her transit to Austria, where the games took place, her luggage was lost. The only thing she had at the time was her equipment, which was transported via the team.
Once the competition got underway, however, Raychel was determined to acclimate herself to the track. It is known as one of the toughest in the world, and is also the “home track” of many of the top European sliders in the sport. This fact is a severe handicap to American sliders, because the difference between winning and loosing is calculated in the thousandths of seconds, and intimate knowledge of the track is a large advantage.
When the competition started, Raychel already knew 2 sliders had posted times that were over a second and a half better than her best practice time.
In the initial run, her start time was slightly slower than training, but she was still only .02 seconds away from the 4th fastest start time. At the completion of her first run, she was in a very respectable 12th position by posting a time of 40.856 seconds, which was a full second better than her previous best time.
Her second run started very strong with a faster start. In the lower end of the track she entered a curve than had a later exit, which led to a direct blow to the wall in the next curve at close to 70mph. The impact of the blow flipped Germaine and her sled, which was now on top of her. With skill and precision she was able to right herself and finish the race.
"Since the finish was uphill, Rachel would not have been able to reach the finish line if she didn't manage to get back on top off that sled." Bob Germaine, Rachel's father, stated.
In the end Germaine finished 14th which was only two places from her goal of a top 12 finish - but considering the accident and the built in handicaps, it was an amazing accomplishment.
“Watching Raychel do so well, in such a high pressure setting, and against a field of more experienced sliders, made her mom and me so proud. She has faced great challenges due to her small physical stature, but she has worked so hard these past three years to overcome those challenges,” Bob Germaine stated.
“For race day she wore over 20 lbs in lead weight, but she was still only 0.02 seconds off of the 4th fastest start. That one statistic speaks volumes as to the great sacrifice she made this last year in the weight room. It has been wonderful watching her mature, not only as a woman and as an athlete, but also in her Christian faith. We are very proud
of her and excited that she had the opportunity to compete in such a great event.”
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