Naseby-based luger Jack Leslie has made history in Italy.
The 18-year-old became the first New Zealander to record a podium finish in an international race when he won a junior world cup race in Italy yesterday.
It surpassed the eighth-placed finish by two-time Olympian Angela Paul at the artificial track junior world championships in the United States in 1995.
Leslie, who is from Christchurch but trains in Naseby during the New Zealand winter, beat 31 other competitors to finish atop the podium in Seiser Alm.
"After four years of training and racing it all came together today,'' Leslie said in a statement.
"After all the coaching my runs were very good and my sled and steels worked very well, so today was my day.''
Leslie, who finished fourth in the opening race at the natural track world cup event last week, has been competing in Europe for four years and usually competes at the senior level.
However, New Zealand Olympic Luge Association president Geoff Balme said he was concentrating on the junior grade before the junior world championships in Latsch, Italy, next month.
"The junior world championships only happen very two years, so we have got him focusing on that,'' he said.
It was the last year Leslie was eligible to compete in the junior section and he was aiming to medal, Balme said.
The teenager competes solely on natural tracks, which are not included in the Olympic programme.
Leslie first started excelling in the sport after Italian world champion Patrick Pignetter spent a month in Naseby in 2012.
"We had him in Naseby for a month in 2012. Following that Jack got really motivated to want to go and try it,'' Balme said.
Leslie, who still trains with Pignetter when he is in Europe, does not have much time to celebrate his history-making win.
He will be back on his sled today, when he competes in the second senior world cup race of the season in Latsch.
Leslie finished 16th in the opening senior race last month.
His sister, Olivia (16), is the only other New Zealander competing in the sport on the international scene.
She finished 14th in her race yesterday, and will also compete in the junior world championships on February 13-14.
