Beattie Podulsky and Kailey Allan already travel the world together, visiting the icy likes of the aptly named Winterberg, Germany, to compete on the luge World Cup circuit.
But this summer, the Canadians — both born and bred in similarly snowy Calgary — decided to switch up their itinerary.
“We go to the middle of nowhere in the freezing cold all the time and [so] we were like, ‘Let’s go somewhere that’s not cold and actually has things to do,’” Podulsky said. “Then you know, we’re booking flights.”
For two weeks, Podulsky and Allan traversed New Zealand and Fiji in an RV — a small abode, but a mansion compared to the quarters they typically share on their 20-kilogram doubles luge sled.
As they remained physically close, the Olympic hopefuls also deepened their friendship.
“Half the time we were sleeping on like park service roads and all that so we weren’t really talking to other people. So it’s just us for two weeks for a little bit there and yeah, I think it definitely helped build the relationship more,” Podulsky said.
Now, the plan for Podulsky and Allan is to parlay that partnership into a spot in the starting field of the first-ever Olympic women’s luge doubles competition at Milan-Cortina Olympics — and potentially a spot on the podium, too.
Their journey continues when the World Cup season begins back in Winterberg on Dec. 5.
Luge has been part of the Olympic program since 1964, when it debuted with men’s and women’s singles competitions in addition to men’s doubles. In 2014, a team relay was added. Now, 62 years after athletes first began navigating icy tracks feet-first, women’s doubles joins the fray, too.
Like its men’s counterpart and unlike singles competitions, women’s doubles will comprise only of two runs over the same day, with the lowest combined time taking home the gold medal.
And so it is Feb. 11, 2026 when Podulsky and Allan hope to show off their chemistry to the world.
“We’re chaotic together, but it’s definitely good chaos,” Allan said. “I feel like we’re very similar. … We definitely feed off each other’s energy a lot. So it’s a lot of back and forth really quickly. We both talk really fast as well. If you’re a bystander, it probably looks like gibberish.”
In doubles luge, that chaos can be a ladder.
The sled can be nearly double the weight of singles, and with an extra person on board, the crashes can be that much more severe.
Thus, according to luge legend Wolfgang Kindl of Austria, “harmony is paramount.”
Podulsky agreed, assessing doubles to be “about 10 times more challenging than singles.”
“It can be a little more chaotic. The crashes are a little more gnarly and it can be more unpredictable, I guess, just with how everything plays out. It’s like any little bump or any little hit could either mean you’re flipping, it could mean you’re getting launched over,” she said.
“So it’s always interesting to watch doubles because you never know what’s gonna happen. And you’re like, is it gonna be good? Is it gonna be bad?
“I think what people really like about luge is the nice crashes that we get when, as long as everyone’s OK, obviously, sometimes they’re a good laugh when you’re like, ‘Oh wow, you caught air.’”
As Podulsky, front, Allan remained physically close in the sled, the Olympic hopefuls also deepened their friendship. ( Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press)
Immediately hooked
The 20-year-old Podulsky, whose brother Josh Podulsky is a halfpipe skier, says she first tried luge around age 10 and was immediately hooked.
She focused on singles for years before turning to doubles when it was announced as an Olympic sport after Beijing 2022. For two season, she tried different partnerships, none of which succeeded, before landing on Allan.
“I think we both just really want this and we get along. We have pretty much the same personality. We’re both very extroverted and outgoing. And so it kind of makes it easier to get along with someone that’s basically the same person as you in different form,” Podulsky said.
Allan, 22, has a nearly identical story, having picked up the sport at 10 and competing in singles before making the switch and finding Podulsky.
Together, Allan and Podulsky were part of the team relay squad that won bronze at the world championships last February in Whistler, B.C. — a sign of hope one year before the Olympics.
“It definitely gave us a boost of like we can be right in with the best, but we also need to keep in mind that there were a lot of other factors, including it was our home track compared to everybody else, and then there was a lot of other mistakes within other teams that helped us get there,” Allan cautioned.
Podulsky said the podium appearance comes with added pressure.
“Everyone’s kind of looking at you now and expecting you to do the same thing or seeing if you’re going to mess up under the pressure and all that. So I think it’s definitely some added stress,” she said.
Add that to the intensity of the Olympic season to come, and it’s a recipe for chaos.
Podulsky and Allan began training in October and will go all the way through to Christmas, when they’ll take a four-day reprieve before fast-tracking through to Italy.
“I think it’s going to be a tough one mentally,” Podulsky said, “but I think it’ll be good.”
