A sport that requires a lot of heart and breathtaking speed is providing some inspiration for the people of Prince Edward County through a successful athlete.
Wellington’s Kolby Parks, 39, is one of the world’s top competitors in ‘Street Luge,’ winning several championships, including North American Street Luge titles, nine Canadian Street Luge championships, six World Cups and the 2018 Street Luge World Championship.
In June, Parks pulled off the fastest time in round one of the World Gravity Sport Federation’s 2024 Open Street Luge World Cup races in Erzincan, Turkey.
“I managed to win that (race) with a crazy double inside pass, and now there’s only two more races to go,” he said in an interview from his home in the County.
“I don’t want to say it’s mine to lose now, but it’s mine to lose, essentially.”
This recent competition is one of 95 that Parks has competed in over the course of his career as one of between 20 to 30 Canadians who are regular competitors.
Street Luge is described as a niche, but steadily growing sport in Canada where riders lie flat on their backs on ‘big souped-up’ skateboards that Parks described as being ‘beefier’ and more equipped to handle the great speeds necessary to succeed.
Similar to Ice Luge, an event that appears every Winter Olympic year, Street Luge requires competitors to navigate tight turns and winding road courses with a combination of ‘ballistic strength’ and a sense of cool and calm.
“A lot of times, if you can get out in front off the push, you can dictate the pace of the race, and the race is yours to lose at that point,” Parks explained.
“On the flip side of that crazy ballistic push you have to do at the start, you have to lie down and then relax your body. If you’re too stiff, your board will start to slide because your body won’t absorb the bumps.”
“You have to just generally be relaxed on the board, because the board is like a horse. It knows when you’re nervous, so it will try to buck you off if you’re not careful.”
To build acceleration, Parks said he works on training in the gym and out on a side road near his house with weights on his board to simulate a real race.
In the past, Parks has been clocked going 154 kilometres per hour, about 10 notches short of a world record.
Speed was always something that enthralled Parks.
He reflected back to his childhood watching events like the Indy 500 and X Games – where he first viewed Street Luge – as defining moments for pursuing his sport.
Parks is continuing to balance his time between training for his next events, and working on his family farm between Bloomfield and Wellington this summer.
His schedule fills up even more once September hits and he returns to his educational assistant job at Prince Edward Collegiate Institute.
“The school board has been very good at accommodating my passion,” he credited.
“I don’t really get paid a whole lot to do luge, it’s more like an expensive hobby, but,I just try to work and save as much as I can so I can continue going to these races.”
As he continues with his career, Parks said he’s optimistic the sport is on the ‘cusp of something big.’
The second of the three World Cup races takes place in Wales, with the final qualifying leg being completed in Tennessee in October.
In between time, Parks will represent Canada in Rome, Italy at the World Skate Games in the fall, and wraps up the season by defending his crown at the North American Championships in Ohio.
He encouraged any local businesses who are interested to help sponsor him and the team to reach out to him through his social media channels.
You can follow Parks on Instagram and Facebook and check out the races on the World Downhill Skateboarding Championship YouTube channel.