From the Blackwood area of South Australia comes a man who strives to live life to the full. He is young, married and loves gravity powered sports that are fast and dangerous.

Twenty-four-year-old Dan Newton grew up riding skate boards around the suburbs of Adelaide. He experimented with his style and began to sit down on the skate board. This quickly progressed to streetluge where he found himself hurtling down steep asphalt roads in the Adelaide Hills on a custom made sled on his back.

“My favourite streetluge track would have to be Mount Panorama, at Bathurst,” he said.

“Because it is such a famous track and you get some speeds well over 100km/h. It is also one of the tracks on the world championship circuit so you get to race the world’s best there.”

Following a few world cup podium finishes, Newton decided to try ice luge in an attempt to fulfil his Olympic dream.

“It probably started when I was a kid watching the Olympics,” he said. “I realised street luge did not look that different – you are lying on your back going down a hill really quickly. I wrote an email to the federation who said come over for a training run, see how you go and now we are here.”

Newton is currently in Latvia, training on the Sigulda track as part of a six week European training camp. The camp precedes the World Cup season, in which Newton must earn enough points to be ranked among the top 37 men at the end of the year to qualify for the 2014 Olympic Winter Games.

Newton is well aware of the dangers associated with his chosen sport.

At the 2010 Olympic Games the Georgian luge competitor, Nodar Kumaritashvili, was killed in a practice run.

But instead of slowing down, Newton decided to speed things up, reaching speeds of 140km/h on the ice track.

“On the ice, you definitely have that third dimension, climbing up the walls on corners, which induces extreme ‘g’ forces,” he said.

The South Australian has a very understanding wife as well as family and friends.

“They have gotten used to me doing these sports over the years,” he said. “They were concerned initially but they are pretty stoked for me.”
Newton rates the psychological part of the sport as more important than the physical.

“The only real physical part is the start,” he said. “You have to have a good explosive start from the upper body because you start sitting down and you paddle off along the ice.

“After that it is a lot more psychological. You need to keep your head in the right place, keep relaxed and keep focussed.”

In addition to training, both mentally and physically, Newton is in an envious position, having to put on a few kilograms to enhance his performance.

“I need to put on weight to get to 90kg,” he said, which is the specified weight for a luge athlete. “It is hard for a skinny guy like me and I shall probably have to pursue weight belts and vests.”

Newton has already been to the venue of the 2014 Olympic Winter Games and experienced the luge track.

“Last year I got to spend a week and a half training at Sochi and I was the first Australian to slide from the top,” he said.

“I really enjoyed the track as it was not too technical but you have to be careful as small mistakes do take off a lot of time.”

 Newton will return to Sochi to finish his six week training camp before the real competition begins. 

“I’ll be going back there in a couple of weeks for further practice on the track in anticipation of the Olympics.”

Despite the huge risks his sport poses, Newton seems a fairly calm young man.

“My wife and I try to be content with whatever life brings so my goal is to qualify for the Olympics and then just do my best,” he said.

“But whether I qualify or not we will be happy and we would have enjoyed the adventure we have undertaken.”

Frances Cordaro
olympics.com.au
@AUSOlympicTeam