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Ridgefield's West Wins World Cup Luge Race At Lake Placid

RIDGEFIELD, Conn. -- Ridgefield's Tucker West won his second career World Cup luge race by the narrowest of margins Friday in Lake Placid, N.Y.

Fans of Tucker West, of Ridgefield, celebrate after his gold-medal winning run Friday in Lake Placid, N.Y.

Fans of Tucker West, of Ridgefield, celebrate after his gold-medal winning run Friday in Lake Placid, N.Y.

Photo Credit: Twitter/USA Luge

Tucker, 21, won the race with a combined time of 1:41.088 for his two runs down the track. He edged Russian Semen Pavlichenko, who came in second in 1:41.094 with Austrian Wolfgang Kindl third in 1:43.094 and USA Luge’s Chris Mazdzer fourth in 1:43.224. West's victory is he smallest margin of victory on the circuit in nearly four years.

West won the FIL World Cup at the same track two years ago. He finished second last year, and owns the track record at Lake Placid, 51.002 seconds.

West made a name for himself on the luge scene two years ago when he shattered the Lake Placid course record. The record was 51.939 seconds, set by the legendary German slider Felix Loch at the 2009 world championships. West dropped it by almost one second, a huge margin in a sport that’s timed to the thousandth of a second.

West won two medals last season and finished seventh overall — one of the youngest sliders in the top 10. He also won a gold medal at the 2016 FIL U23 World Championships.

West's race will  be televised on NBC Sports Network Saturday night at 9:30 p.m. 

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