Tucker West may be the youngest U.S. Olympic luger in history, but he held his own on the first day of runs at the track at Krasnaya Polyana at the Sochi Games in Russia on Saturday.
West, 18, a Ridgefield native, is in 23rd place after two runs. He is nearly two seconds behind the leader, Felix Loch, of Germany.
West's first run of the day included a mistake at the top of the track, that saw him drift into the wall, just after leaving the start.
"It (the error) is pretty easy to flush out," Tucker told USA Luge. "You've got 17 curves ahead of you and you're going 80 miles per hour. You've got to let it go by you. Part of the sport is to have short term memory."
West was 21st after the first run, but lost a little time to the leaders after the second heat.
"Honestly, the runs were nowhere near where I wanted them to be," West said. "But that'll give me the determination to do even better tomorrow."
West will have his chance to make up time with the final two heats on Sunday.
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You can watch the livestream of the event beginning at 9:30 a.m. ET here.
