The 2010 Winter Olympic Games will be memorable for many; however, this year is significant for one St. Edward’s University student in particular.

Freshman Kayla Gonzalez will be watching these Winter Games thinking she could have been there. This would have been the year for Gonzalez to qualify for the Winter Olympics in the luge, if she hadn’t stopped training.

Gonzalez said she began training for the luge when she was 13 and tried out for the USA Luge Slider Search held by the USA Luge National and Olympic Team coaches and athletes.

There, Gonzalez said she learned the basics about street luge, including steering and stopping.

The USA Luge Slider Search’s primary purpose was to recruit potential lugers to compete in future Winter Olympics.

Even though Gonzalez said making the cut was rare, she was brought onto the Olympic training team with hopes of qualifying for the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver. She said the workouts were intense.

“I was trained not to black out, because luge is the fastest sport on ice at 90 miles an hour,” Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez said her biggest achievement was that she never crashed her sled, as that was a rare accomplishment for many lugers.

Gonzalez said the ideal body type for a luger is to be small but have a large upper body.

“You have to be built but compact to fit in the sled,” Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez said her training for the luge got very expensive, and due to financial reasons, she chose to discontinue it.

Although she will not be in Vancouver for the Winter Games this year, Gonzalez said she is still looking forward to watching them.