This kid tried the luge track in his hometown before the 2010 Olympics. Now he's on Team Canada
Reid Watts first tried luge more than a decade ago in hometown of Whistler, B.C.
The first time Reid Watts barrelled down the track on a luge at the Whistler Sliding Centre, his life changed course.
He was nine years old and the centre had just been built in his hometown in preparation for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.
"Just like everyone in the sport, the speed drew me in," Watts said.
Fast-forward to today, and Watts is living the dream he started envisioning that first day on the track, travelling the world as an Olympic luge athlete on Canada's national team.
"It's a dream come true, really. Ever since I was nine years old and I was first shown to the sport, I knew that's where I had to be," he said.
Luge parents
Many parents might cringe at their child zooming rapidly on ice with little protection aside from a helmet, rubberized suit, and gloves with tiny spikes in the fingertips for traction.
Kids glide down the smooth ice track on an open-air sled around 70 kilometres per hour. For adults, speeds can reach 150 kilometres per hour.
"The craziest part about going down is the g-force you're hitting in some of these tight corners," Watts said. "It's a real flow state."
It can be lethally dangerous, too.
Few can forget the devastation when Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili died in a horrific crash in an Olympic training run at Whistler, B.C., just hours before the Games opening ceremony.
But the risk didn't stop Watts or his parents, who saw early on that their only child had caught the bug for luge.
"The excitement every day for him to go back to the track and slide was something else," said dad Jim Watts.
They enrolled him in a training program at the sliding centre more than a decade ago.
"With the speed comes the risk and that's why we all like it," Reid Watts said.
In 2016, Watts went on to win Canada's first bronze in luge at the Winter Youth Olympic Games and then competed in the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, finishing twelfth in the men's single event.
Legacy baby
Watts is often referred to as a legacy baby — someone who was brought into the sport as a direct result of Vancouver hosting the Olympics in 2010.
The family is grateful the sliding centre was built in Whistler, as practicing with a luge track in your backyard is something many kids don't get the chance to do.
There are less than 20 professional luge competition tracks in the world.
"I'm pumped," said dad Jim Watts. "He's worked very hard and it was just fantastic to see where the sport's taking him."
But living the dream comes with sacrifices as well. The luge athlete is away from his friends and family pretty much all year, living in Calgary in the summer practicing with the team, and travelling all winter to compete.
And the training can be intense. He's in the gym twice a day, five days a week, with additional training on top of that.
"Sometimes it can be tough. But at the end of the day … I'm sledding for a job. So, it could be a lot worse. The passion keeps me going," he said.
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With files from Jasmine Mani