LONDON, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) — Argentina’s Veronica Ravenna first made Olympic history aged 19 in PyeongChang, when she became South America’s youngest female athlete to compete in luge, the world’s fastest sport on ice.
Fast forward four years, Ravenna is about to make history once again in Beijing, this time as South America’s first female luger to compete at two Games.
Ravenna is now all set for Beijing’s Yanqing National Sliding Center luge track, which features the world’s first 360-degree turn and 16 curves.
“I feel that I’ve improved technically, I’m four years older, I’ve improved mentally a lot too, and I’m a lot more prepared for these Olympics,” she said.
“The experience in PyeongChang was so unbelievable. You watch it on TV and you imagine what it’s like. But until you are there with all your country teammates cheering for you at the start, all the cameras, it’s something you can’t describe – it’s such a special feeling.”
Ravenna, born in Buenos Aires, moved to Whistler, Canada, with her family aged six. By 11 she had fallen in love with the luge after a school trip to the Whistler Sliding Center, just before the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games.
With a mother from Patagonia, a father from Buenos Aires, and a life now spent in Whistler – steeped in Olympic history as the host of the 2010 Winter Games – she will be flying two flags in her heart in Beijing.
“It’s definitely the best of both worlds, because I get to represent where I came from, where all my family came from, all my cousins and all our first friends,” she said in an interview with Pique News Magazine.
“But then I also get to represent the town that kind of made me, the town that gave me the opportunity to get to where I am to be able to represent my home country.”
If Ravenna was to choose a third flag to fly in her heart at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games, it would be for Germany.
As Argentina’s only luge athlete, Ravenna has turned to the world’s most successful nation in luge – Germany – for training help, and the team has well and truly taken her under their wing.
This year, Ravenna has spent one month with Georg Hackl, the three-time Olympic and world champion, perfecting style and her sled.
“The German team has really helped me more than I could ever imagine. I like to say that we are all in elementary school and they are in university – everything that they know, every second, every run is planned and they know how to improve, from the sleds, to the technique, absolutely everything.”
