Ukrainian luger falls off sled but still finishes race
Sometimes the finer moments of the Olympic Games do not come in finals or on podiums. Sometimes they do not come during ceremonies or record-setting performances.
Sometimes they just come during the oft-forgotten rounds in the oft-forgotten sports, like the very first luge run for Ukrainian Andriy Mandziy.
Mandziy was roughly 15 seconds into his first run on Saturday when he hit a bit of turbulence on his ride, eventually being knocked off his sled. Somehow, though, he was able to snag hold of his sled before it plummeted down the track, and when he slowed his speed enough he hauled himself upright and resumed on the sled, finishing the race and surprising the announcer.
“If he can get back on he can finish, but he won’t, he’s lost all his pace,” the announcer said. “Oh, he’s got back on! Magnificent from the big man … Look at that dexterity. It’s like, ‘I’m going to need a new pair of pants but that’s alright I might as well ride it home and see the tailor.’ I like it.”
This is Mandziy’s second Olympic Games. In the 2014 Games in Sochi he finished 31st. The 29-year-old’s best finish in a World Championship is 27th, in Italy in 2011.
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