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Saturday, October 31, 2026Oct 31

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Olympic sliding track is indeed built for speed

TOM WITHERS

AP Sports Writer

WHISTLER, British Columbia – It’s fast. It’s furious. It’s frightening.

It’s the 16-curve Whistler Sliding Center track that snakes its way down beautiful Blackcomb Mountain. The site will host the bobsled, luge and skeleton competitions during the Vancouver Games, and has already developed a nasty reputation before even making its Olympic debut.

The state-of-the-art course is the world’s fastest and could produce speed records as sliders surpass 90 mph. It may also prove too fast for riders. One of the track’s curves is nicknamed “50-50” – the odds of emerging from it unscathed.

The sliding competition begins Saturday with the first two heats of men’s singles luge.