Erin Hamlin bio

Erin Hamlin accomplished the nearly impossible at the 2009 Worlds, snapping a 99 consecutive international winning streak by the Germans and winning the world title.

Home sweet Lake Placid
Hamlin's world title came on the same Lake Placid track on which her luge career began. Her father's employer, Verizon, sponsors luge tryouts across the country so it was natural for Erin and her older brother, both of whom excelled in a variety of sports, to tryout. Erin worked her way up through the developmental program, eventually living and training full-time in Lake Placid, faxing and emailing her schoolwork back to her high school. 

Surprise!
In the final event of the qualifying period for the U.S. team in 2006, Hamlin, then 19, finished fifth to earn a spot on the team. Neither she nor her Olympic Training Center roommate was expected to post top-five results in World Cup competition, but by doing so, they knocked 2002 Olympian Ashley Walden off the team. Hamlin surprised even herself by qualifying for the team -- she had previously said that her goal was to compete at the 2010 Vancouver Games.