Matthew "Matt" Mortensen (born December 11, 1985) is an American

luge A luge () is a small one- or two-person sled on which one sleds Supine position, supine (face-up) and feet-first. A luger begins seated, propelling themselves initially from handles on either side of the start ramp, then steers by using the Ca ...

r who has been competing since 2000. His best

Luge World Cup The Luge World Cup season is a yearly competition first organized by the International Luge Federation since 1977–78. The World Cup is the highest level season-long competition in the sport. Men's singles ;Medals: ;World Cup Stages medals ( ...

season finish was silver in both the Lake Placid, United States, and Altenberg, Germany, World Cups in 2016–2017. Mortensen and teammate Jayson Terdiman finished the 2016–2017 season ranked 3rd internationally. Mortensen's best finish at the

FIL World Luge Championships The FIL World Luge Championships, part of the International Luge Federation (FIL) have taken place on an almost annual basis in non-Winter Olympics years since 1955. These championships are shown for artificial tracks. See FIL World Luge Natural ...

was 7th in the doubles event in Cesana, Italy, in

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

and 2nd in the Team Relay event in the 2017 World Championships in Igls, Austria. He serves as an electrician in the 1156th Engineering Company of the

New York Army National Guard The New York Army National Guard is a component of the New York National Guard and the Army National Guard. Nationwide, the Army National Guard comprises approximately one half of the United States Army's available combat forces and approximate ...

, and is a member of the U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program. Mortensen finished 14th in the doubles luge with teammate Preston Griffall at the

2014 Winter Olympics The 2014 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXII Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Sochi 2014 (), were an international winter multi-sport event that was held from 7 to 23 February 2014 in Sochi, Russia. Opening ro ...

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Сочи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg, from – ''seaside'') is the largest Resort town, resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi (river), Sochi River, along the Black Sea in the North Caucasus of Souther ...

. After Griffall chose to focus on his education for the 2014–15 season, Mortensen teamed up with

Jayson Terdiman Jayson Terdiman (born December 21, 1988) is an American luger. Terdiman competed at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countr ...

References

External links

FIL-Luge profile
* * * 1985 births Living people American male lugers Olympic lugers for the United States United States Army soldiers Lugers at the 2014 Winter Olympics Lugers at the 2018 Winter Olympics New York National Guard personnel U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program People from Huntington Station, New York Sportspeople from Huntington, New York 21st-century American sportsmen {{US-luge-bio-stub