Griffall, Joye Finish Eighth in Doubles Luge
February 16, 2006
Griffall, Joye Finish Eighth in Doubles Luge
February 16, 2006 – Preston Griffall and teammate Dan Joye finished eighth in yesterday’s doubles luge competition at the Winter Olympics. Griffall is the son of Western Leisure CEO and NTA Past President Keith Griffall, CTP.
After the first run, during which the Griffall and Joye bumped the wall near the start, the duo was in 11th place out of 21 teams. That near-miss was especially tough for Griffall, who had wrecked in his final training run a day earlier, lacerating his hip and injuring his wrist. The course took its toll on the other American team – Mark Grimmette and Brian Martin – which crashed on its first attempt and was knocked out of the competition.
Since each team gets two runs in the doubles luge competition, and the lowest combined time wins, the day wasn’t over for Griffall and Joye. After the tough first run, they rebounded to post the fourth-fastest time in the second round and finished eighth overall, nearly one second behind the gold medalists from Austria.
"That second run, they pulled it in and did extremely well," Keith Griffall said in an article in the Salt Lake Tribune. "It’s so exciting (for them) to get that experience and feel the enjoyment and passion of everything that’s here."
The eighth-place finish is also of note because luge participants typically get better with age. Since Griffall is 21 and Joye is 20, this may not be the only time they get to represent their country in the Winter Games.
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The staff members of Western Leisure in Salt Lake City show their support for Preston Griffall.