Samuel Edney of Canada is seen racing during second run of the Viessmann Luge World Cup at the Whistler Sliding Centre in Whistler, B.C., Friday, Dec, 9, 2011. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan HaywardJonathan Hayward/The Canadian Press
Challenging for a podium finish in a luge race dominated by German sliders proves to Sam Edney that his career is heading on the right track.
Edney finished a strong fifth in a luge World Cup Friday night in a race won by Olympic champion Felix Loch of Germany.
German sliders swept the podium at the Whistler Sliding Centre and placed five athletes among the top six finishers.
Loch had a two-run time of one minute 36.480 seconds.
Johannes Ludwig was second in 1:36.758 while David Moller was third in 1:36.778.
Edney was timed in 1:37.061. The fifth place ties his best ever World Cup finish.
The Calgary resident said he needs to improve his starts to make up the .115 of a second that kept him off the podium.
"I know I can slide with the best of them," said the 27-year-old as he watched the Germans exchange high-fives and hugs.
"It's clear to me where they have the edge and that's at the start. It motivates me to get to where I know I have to be physically at the start to catch them. I look in the future. There is a lot of sliding to be done and I know I have a lot of time to try and catch them."
Earlier, Andreas and Wolfgang Linger of Austria won the doubles race.
The brothers had a time of 1:22.644 seconds to win on the same track where they won the gold medal at the 2010 Winter Games.
Austrians Peter Penz and Georg Fischler were second in 1:22.888. Christian Oberstolz and Patrick Gruber of Italy were third in 1:22.943.
Tristan Walker of Cochrane, Alta., and Justin Snith of Calgary finished 10th in 1:23.153.
The World Cup is the first major international luge competition held at the Whistler venue since the 2010 Winter Olympics, when Georgian athlete Nodar Kumaritashvili died in a horrific crash just hours prior to the opening ceremonies.
Loch said Whistler has been good to him.
"I like the fast track here," he said. "The start is good for me. It's not too steep. It's good for all Germans.
"The sled today was very fast. I'm happy."
Edney's seventh at the 2010 Games was Canada's best-ever singles result at a Winter Olympics. He was a disappointing 16th in the season's first World Cup race at Igls, Austria.
"It's a good feeling to get back to that spot where I know I can be," said Edney. "I had a tough start to the year.
"We knew where we wanted to go with the sled and with our equipment. We made some adjustments, made some changes and went more aggressive with the setup. It really worked."
In the doubles race, Walker and Snith were sixth after their first run. They had trouble with their second start, losing valuable time.
"That's the second time we had a sixth-place run in a World Cup and dropped to the back of the top 10," said Walker.
"We know we can fight for that top six now. We are really going to keep trying to picture that for the next World Cups to come."
Walker and Snith finished ninth at Igls. The 20-year-olds face a steep learning curve as they are one of the youngest pairs on the circuit and are still adjusting to racing at the senior level.
"Everywhere in the world we are racing from more difficult, more technical starts on the track," said Walker.
"The level of competition is obviously much higher."
Canadian head coach Wolfgang Staudinger said the pair have the talent, but need more experience.
"It shows they are able to compete," said Staudinger.
"I hope they learn it takes two runs to be in the top of the world. Right now they can pull off one. The lessons we learned is not just go happy and jump up and down like a bunch of monkeys after one run. Two runs make a champion."
The Linger brothers showed how comfortable they are at Whistler by setting a track record of 41.255 seconds on their first run. That broke the old mark of 41.332 they set during the Games.
"You like to come back to a track where you were fast and had good results," said Wolfgang. "We were glad to come here for this race.
"We are glad to win again."
A dark cloud was cast over the 2010 Olympics when the 21-year-old Kumaritashvili lost control of his sled while travelling at speeds of more than 144 kilometres going into Turn 16. He flew off the track and slammed into a metal post.
No athletes from Georgia are competing at Whistler or raced at Igls.
Since the Games the Whistler venue has undergone subtle changes and safety features have been improved. Teams were also given extra training time on the 1,140-metre-long track leading up to this year's competition.
Work has been done on the track's concrete which affects the profile of the ice and simplifies the driving lines. Some modifications have been made to change the shape of certain curves.
"It's the same course," said Andreas Linger. "Some of the curves in the lower part, in the very fast part of the track, are better and easier to drive."
Kumaritashvili's death resulted in the luge starts being lowered for the Olympics. The men started from what was the women's start and the women dropped to the junior start position.
Those same starts are being used this weekend.
The Whistler Sliding Centre track, built at a cost of $104.9 million, runs like a concrete snake down Blackcomb Mountain. It will host a bobsled and skeleton World Cup in January.
The luge competition wraps up Saturday with the women's single and team relay event.
Calgary's Alex Gough, who was third at Igls, is looking for a podium finish in the singles. Canada won the only other team relay held this season.