By:Scott Brinton
Young's dreams of luge glory seemed suddenly out of reach. Since age 11, she has trained to become an Olympic competitor in the sport, and she has a serious shot at it. Last winter, she won the national championship in the women's Youth A division. Her goal is to make the Olympic team in 2010.
In October, Young was set to take to the international circuit and compete as a candidate for the junior national luge team. She wanted to prove that she could slide with the best of the field. Then came the accident and the injury. "I was so angry," she said. "I thought the season was over. That was my only thought at that point."
But Young was undeterred. She didn't believe the break was debilitating. She was hungry to slide again. "I was, like, I don't care. I want to get back on the track," she said.
Officials at the USA Luge Center, however, weren't eager to allow a wounded competitor to make the rounds of the World Cup circuit, which requires lugers to race in a different country nearly every week.
Robert Young, Anastasia's father and a Merrick civic activist, asked attorney and family friend Jeff Gold, of Bellmore, to fire off a letter absolving the training center of financial liability if Anastasia were to injure her foot further. The center allowed her to slide again.
But Anastasia still had to get a doctor's clearance. "I was afraid they were going to cast it, and that would have been it," she said. Her doctor instead gave her a semi-hard boot and required her to walk on crutches.
By November, Anastasia was off to Europe with the junior national team, and she bounced back from her injury with a vengeance. In Sigulda, Latvia, she grabbed a silver medal. In Lillehammer, Norway, a gold. Then, in Altenberg, Germany, she won silver, and ended the first half of the World Cup season ranked No. 1 in the world in the women's Youth A division. She even beat a number of German racers, who have traditionally been considered the world's best.
"I knew this would be a breakout year for her," said her father.
Anastasia hopes to end the season in Youth A's top spot. She has three races to go. She so dominated the first half of the season that she could finish the next three races in sixth place and still wind up the No. 1 luger in her division.
Her assistant coach, Larry Dolan, who competed in luge at the Nagano Olympics in 1998, said Young is "doing fantastic. She's made a lot of improvement. She's got a really great attitude."
If Young continues her winning ways, she will likely reach her short-term goal of earning a spot on the junior national team, the final step before the senior national team, whose members most often comprise the Olympic squad, Dolan said.
There are, of course, no guarantees. Young could re-injure her foot. She could crash again and suffer another injury. At this level, with sleds as fast as cars and winding tracks as slick as glass, anything can happen.
Young recognizes that. Above all else, she says she has learned to maintain the precise concentration needed to achieve high-level success in luge. She feels at peace on the track. She thinks constantly, almost obsessively, about beating the Germans.
Young is, without doubt, a superior athlete. The USA Luge Center winnowed her down from more than 600 competitors in a countrywide search in 1999. Over the past five years, she has worked her way from the junior training team to the junior development team, the junior candidate select team and the junior candidate team. Young believes her childhood gymnastics background gave her the strength, endurance and agility to attract the attention of coaches at the Luge Center.
Life on the road as a luger can be trying, though. Young is a teenager living in an enormously competitive adult world. And she misses out on a lot of high-school life -- dances, clubs, parties at Calhoun, where she's a junior. "If I was here, I would be a lot more involved" in school, she said.
Young doesn't make friends easily on the road. The other American athletes she travels with from November to March are all competing for a handful of slots on the junior national or senior national teams. At times, athletes can be nasty to one another. At best, they may offer reluctant praise for other squad members' accomplishments.
Last season, the team had an especially hard time bonding. This year, though, things are better. "It's a lot more friendly," Young said. "There's no random stupidity. Everyone's cool with each other."
Young has two hours a day to complete her schoolwork, which is faxed or e-mailed to team manager Keith Younger, who acts as her tutor. Mary Ann Monty, an administrator at the Luge Center, said national team members often must take summer school to make up work they miss while on the World Cup circuit.
There are financial sacrifices for Young's family, as well, said her father. Sending one luger on the World Cup circuit can easily run $20,000 for the season. Verizon and the Luge Center pick up much of Anastasia's bill, but far from all of it. The rest comes from her family or private donations.
Robert Young said he, his wife, Alexandria, and their 13-year-old son, Chris, wouldn't have it any other way. Robert said he's proud that his daughter "represents the country in international competition. How many people get to that point?"
Anastasia has upcoming races in Konigssee and Oberhof, Germany, and Igls, Austria. To help sponsor her, send a check payable to U.S. Luge Association to 57 Church St., Lake Placid, N.Y. 12946. Don't note Young's name on the check memorandum. Rather, attach a letter stating who the money should be set aside for. All donations are tax-deductible, and the USA Luge Foundation will send a letter to confirm a donation.
Comments about this story? SBrinton@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 203.
