“Low temperatures, high speeds and aggressive G-forces make material selection and sled design essential for both performance and athlete safety,” Dow said.

Bob Plishka, global director of sports partnerships at Dow, said the luge team came forward with the need for speed and a unique opportunity for the materials company—applying its expertise to “help them win.”

“The innovations our teams have developed together have led to breakthrough performance for USA Luge and demonstrate what technical partnerships like this can achieve,” Plishka said.

Since partnering with Dow, the team has earned more than 100 World Cup and World Championship medals.

And at the 2014 Olympic Games, Erin Hamlin won the first-ever USA luge singles medal (bronze), followed by Chris Mazdzer’s first U.S. men’s singles medal at PyeongChang 2018 (silver).

Now, the two organizations “have a number of projects ongoing” to add to this medal count.

“Our team has been putting in the hours to be the best we can be, striving for the fastest times possible, and our partnership with Dow has helped us to step into the next level of performance,” said Emily Sweeney, USA Luge athlete. “Every thousandth of a second counts when you’re on the track, and Dow’s scientists have taken that notion, combined with our team’s insights, to create innovative solutions that optimize our speed.”