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Finally, after 12 long years, the streak was over.
Erin Hamlin's sled was clocked at just over 71 miles per hour as she sped across the finish line at the 41st World Luge Championships in Lake Placid, N.Y. last winter.
Dating back to 1997, German women had won every major international luge competition -- a string of 99 victories. The 22-year-old slider from Remsen, N.Y. ended that streak while setting a track record route to her two-heat total of 1:28.098, nineteen one-hundredths faster than Germany's Natalie Geisenberger. In the only Olympic sport measured to the thousandth-of-a-second, her margin of victory was a small eternity.
For the first-time in the history of the sport, its origins from Switzerland in the 1880's, an American woman was world champion.
At the top of the track on that February morning, U.S. head coach Wolfgang Schaedler looked on triumphantly knowing that Hamlin made history while benefiting from his work of art -- a highly aerodynamic and high-tech piece of fiberglass and steel weighing just under 50 pounds, engineered to rocket down slick icy tracks with minimal friction and wind resistance.
Schaedler, a three-time Olympian and native of Liechtenstein, has been at the helm of the U.S. team since 1986. To the surprise of many, it is at his small workshop in the village of Triesenberg, in a tiny country with a population of just 35,000, where the team's sleds are designed and crafted.
In August, the United States lugers visited Schaedler at his home in the pristine alpine country for a combination of sled-fitting and team building.
"Going to Liechtenstein is great because we get to see the workshop where Wolfie works on the sleds," said Mark Grimmette. "He has all these homemade machines all over the place - jigs if you will - to help build the sleds. There are stacks and stacks of boxes full of parts everywhere and bolts are spread out over the tables. His tools are laid out on the countertop."
"You think you're going to walk into a normal garage or workshop, but instead of cars or carpentry equipment, it's just luge stuff which is kind of bizarre and not something you see everyday," said Hamlin. "It's cool to see that our sleds come out of there and how they evolve."
Schaedler, 51, had modest success as a competitor with his best Olympic finish being 11th at the 1984 Sarajevo Games while representing Liechtenstein. However, he has made his mark on the luge world as an innovator always striving to improve the design of his team's sleds and stay a step ahead of traditional powers Germany, Italy and Austria.
In August 2009, the U.S. luge team traveled to Wolfgang Schaedler's homeland
"I learned a lot about sled building and technology," said 21-year-old U.S. team member Chris Mazdzer about his first visit to the overseas workshop. "He (Schaedler) has all these charts and formulas and this research and data along the walls. You really understand how much work he's put in and how much time USA Luge has spent on designing the fastest sleds possible."
"Aerodynamically, we've incorporated some interesting things into the doubles sleds that have helped make a significant impact on how fast we are," said Grimmette, a four-time Olympian. "He has had some crazy ideas that we've tried and said, 'I don't really want to ride this.' That being said, you try things -- some work, some don't, but he's come up with some great ideas over the years."
The veteran head coach is a machinist by trade and his technical expertise never ceases to amaze those close to the sport.
"There have been numerous occasions where highly educated, highly credible engineers have failed to produce a faster sled than Wolfie," said veteran team member Tony Benshoof. "Call it skill or call it luck, the fact remains that he is one of the best sled builders in the world."
"Wolfie has spent his whole life thinking, dreaming, and making fast sleds," said doubles slider, Christian Niccum.
In addition to visiting Schaedler's shop, which is about a ten-minute walk from his Alpine home in Triesenberg, U.S. team members embarked on an overnight adventure starting at the base of Malbun, Liechtenstein's single ski resort.
"It was a tough two-day hike and a real team-bonding experience," said Hamlin about the ascent to 9,000 feet.
"The mountains are so steep - it was actually rather intimidating," said Mazdzer. "You look down and it's a couple hundred feet straight down at points. It's a really nice area and pretty slow and gentle pace of life up there."
"I wanted to get everybody together and do something different so the team could grow in unity," said Schaedler.
Schaedler rescued the struggling program, which was virtually non-existent on the world scene 24 years ago. Since then USA Luge has garnered four Olympic (two silver and two bronze, all in doubles) and 13 world championship medals including two gold (Hamlin and Wendel Suckow in 1993). His doubles teams have also won four overall World Cup titles.
The 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver will be the seventh for Schadler as head coach of the U.S. squad. America's most promising medal hopes lie with Hamlin and the doubles pair of Grimmette and Brian Martin. The veteran duo will be seeking their third Olympic medal together.
"Brian and I understand the track and its driving lines already," said Grimmette about the Whistler sliding venue north of Vancouver. "We both love the track. It's fast and I think we're both in a really good spot right now."
Hamlin also has a positive, yet calculated approach to the upcoming Games.
"There are still quite a few races left before the Olympics so I kind of take them as they come," she said. "Obviously I want to do really well and be on the team."
As the Games draw closer, it's a safe bet Schaedler will be working to provide even the slightest technical advantage possible to give to his athletes their best chance to succeed against their European adversaries.
