Canadian Luge Team Accuses Russia of Cheating
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Photodisc/ThinkstockThe Canadian luge coach believes that his team was the victim of sabotage during the luge team relay Thursday — and he’s pointing the finger at the Russians.
Coach Wolfgang Staudinger told the Toronto Star that he believes someone tampered with the track temperature, which is controlled by a boiler room. He claimed to the paper that Russian track officials turned up the temperature after the Russian team had its run.
“Canada was silver at the top, but the further we went down, the slower we got. That’s a clear sign that the track slowed down dramatically,” Staudinger told the Star. “It’s always hard to prove, but I’m long enough in the business that I can you when people, especially the Austrians who won silver yesterday, were dropping a half second, that’s not normal.”
The teams with the best standings typically race last, but because Russia didn’t race at the latest World Cup event, they surrendered their ranking and raced in the middle of the pack instead of the end. Staudinger called this a “red flag.”
The Canadian team came in fourth, and the Russian team came in second, earning the silver medal.
The IOC has not returned request for comment. And the United States Olympic team declined to comment to ABC News on the matter because it does not run the race.
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