Winning partnership, combining science, engineering and technology to optimize sled performance, will continue through 2026.
Midland, Mich. – In the lead up to the Luge World Cup, Dow (NYSE: DOW) and USA Luge announced today that Dow will extend its collaboration as the Official Technical Partner of the USA Luge team through 2026 – underscoring both organizations’ commitment to combining science and speed to improve sled performance.
Since 2007, Dow and USA Luge have continually innovated together to improve the team’s Olympic-winning sleds through materials science expertise and state-of-the-art engineering tools.
“The Dow partnership has brought a new level of analysis and understanding of how science and technology improve the environment that we operate in,” says Gordy Sheer, Director of Marketing and Sponsorship of USA Luge and Olympic silver medalist. “Their direct, hands-on collaboration with our team has elevated our sliders’ ability to perform stronger in races from the outset, and we are looking forward to continuing our teamwork with them.”
Low temperatures, high speeds and aggressive G-forces make material selection and sled design essential for both performance and athlete safety. Engineers and scientists from Dow and USA Luge work together in both lab and on-track environments to make sleds more precise, reliable, faster and more capable to withstand the high demands of the sport.
“USA Luge came to us with a need for greater speed, providing us a unique opportunity to apply our materials science expertise to help them win,” said Bob Plishka, Global Director, Sports Partnerships at Dow. “The innovations our teams have developed together have led to breakthrough performance for USA Luge and demonstrate what technical partnerships like this can achieve.”
Since partnering with Dow, USA Luge has seen historic successes across the board, including earning more than 100 World Cup and World Championship medals. At the 2014 Olympic Games, Erin Hamlin won the first-ever USA luge singles medal (bronze), followed by Chris Mazdzer’s first U.S. men’s singles medal at PyeongChang 2018 (silver). Dow and USA Luge have a number of projects ongoing, with the goal of adding to the total medal count.
“Our team has been putting in the hours to be the best we can be, striving for the fastest times possible, and our partnership with Dow has helped us to step into the next level of performance,” said Emily Sweeney, USA Luge athlete. “Every thousandth of a second counts when you’re on the track, and Dow’s scientists have taken that notion, combined with our team’s insights, to create innovative solutions that optimize our speed.”
USA Luge and World Cup racing return to the United States December 16-17, 2022 in Park City, Utah.
