Alex Gough

Sport: Luge
Hometown: Calgary, Alberta
Born: May 1987

Pullquote:  Find something you love to do and never ever give up.

Q:  What is your typical day like?
Alex:  I wake up, eat, train, eat, train, eat, sleep and repeat.

Q:  How has growing up in Alberta contributed to your success as an athlete?
Alex: Without the facilities left by the ’88 Games’ legacy and growing up in Calgary, I never would have gotten into luge.

Q:  What’s your proudest moment in sport?
Alex:  Attaining the best-ever result for a Canadian woman at a World Championship - a fourth place finish in Lake Placid, N. Y. this past season.

Q:  What words of encouragement would you offer to youth who want to become elite athletes?
Alex:  Always remember that sport is meant to be fun. Find something you love to do and never ever give up.

Q:  Who is your hero?
Alex:  My mom. She is the strongest, most driven and self-motivated person I know.

More About Alex:

Family:  mother Zan Aycock and father Brent Gough
Education:  graduate of Calgary’s National Sport School
Profession:  full-time athlete
Trains at:  Canada Olympic Park, Calgary
Other pursuits:  plays classical guitar, skis, scuba dives, hikes and rock climbs

Other milestones:

• Joined luge development team in 2003; started competing in luge in 2004 at the age of 17
• Event: women’s singles
• Her fourth-place finish at the 2009 World Championships in Lake Placid was the best ever for a Canadian woman
• She competed for Canada at the 2006 Games in Torino, finishing in 20th place; that year she also finished third at the Canadian Championships
• Missed 2007/2008 after breaking her ankle in training

• Her 2008/2009 World Cup season featured seven top-10 finishes, including: seventh-place finishes at Whistler, B.C., Cesano, Italy and Winterberg, Germany plus a sixth place-finish at Calgary