Summer Britcher is the all-time singles leader in USA Luge history. Here’s everything you need to know about the athlete heading to the 2022 Winter Olympics.
Summer Britcher, 27, is gearing up to compete in the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. She was the first team member to officially qualify for the 2022 USA luge singles team. Her other women’s singles teammates include Emily Sweeney, Britney Ardnt, and Ashley Farquharson. Her former teammate and 2014 Olympic gold medalist Erin Hamlin retired after the 2018 Olympics.
Summer is stoked to be at the Winter Olympics and went viral on TikTok for her commentary on her rooming situation. The Summer 2021 Olympic athletes infamously slept on cardboard beds in Tokyo. However, that is the opposite of the case this time as the beds are adjustable with remotes for maximum comfort. “Not only do we not have cardboard beds here, but it’s as if the Beijing organizing committee said, ‘How can we just absolutely just one up Tokyo?’” She said as she showed off the luxury bed. Now that the athlete is well-rested, here’s everything you need to know about Summer and her chances of winning gold.
1. Summer Has Competed In The Olympics Twice
Summer Britcher at the Olympics. (Wong Maye-E/AP/Shutterstock)Summer has competed in the Olympics not once but twice before. She first joined the US luge team in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. She then went on to compete in the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeoungchang. Unfortunately, she didn’t place in either but the professional athlete has a good attitude about it.
“I sacrificed so much to get to that point, right? I skipped so many important things of friends and family, always an excuse of, ‘I need to do everything to be so good at the Olympics.’ I got there and I failed,” she said Glenn Clark Radio Jan. 6. “I was walking away from it and I went, ‘Wow. I don’t have an Olympic medal. I’m sitting here and I sacrificed all of that for what?’ And that’s just because I went into it with the wrong approach.”
2. Summer Sustained A Major Injury Ahead of 2022 Olympics
Summer nearly put her 2022 Winter Olympics opportunity at risk when she sustained a broken middle finger on her left hand. The incident occurred during a crash in the Sigulda World Cup. Even though she announced her injury exactly four weeks before the Olympics, it won’t stop her from showing up. “I will still be competing in Beijing, and with such a great team supporting me, I am confident that I will be recovered enough to pull and paddle my way to some fast start times in the Olympics,” she wrote on Instagram with a humorous picture of her holding up her middle finger.
3. Summer Won 5 World Cups
Summer Britcher competes in luge. (ANDREAS SCHAAD/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)Summer has certainly earned her title of luge champion as she has won five World Cup Championships. Her wins came in 2015, 2016, 2019, 2020 and 2021. With three consecutive wins in a row, it puts her in a really good position to take gold at the 2022 Olympics even though she hasn’t won there yet. Her five wins granted her the title of all-time singles leader in USA Luge history.
4. Summer Won A Gold Medal In The Youth Olympics
Summer may not have won any medals during the two times she competed in the Winter Olympics but she did win gold in the Youth Olympics in 2012 when she was just 17 years old. She won gold for the team relay event. She has also earned the title of National Champion after competing in Norton USA Luge Championships and winning twice as well as winning their junior championship in 2013.
5. Summer Discovered Her Passion For Luge At A Young Age.
Summer first discovered she had a passion for luge when she was 11 years old and her family took a trip to Liberty Mountain Resort in Fairfield, PA. “It was a ton of fun, but I guess I was just this little jerk — that’s how I think of it now, looking back,” Summer said on Glenn Clark Radio. “I was like 11 years old and I was just trying so hard to beat my older brothers. I was being so competitive, which, looking back, I’m like, ‘Wow, that was probably just really annoying trying so hard to beat them.’”
She skidded down the hill so fast that the staff recommended she try luge. “One of the USA Luge staff members there talked to my parents and said, ‘Hey, I think your daughter shows some promise. You should consider sending her up to Lake Placid, New York, where we have a real luge track and she can try out for the team,” she added.
