Staudinger to pay homage to Rosen at Winter Olympics - after UK Sport funding fires him to Beijing

AJ Rosen's luge legacy is ensuring Rupert Staudinger's Winter Olympic fires are burning brighter than ever.The Bath-based 24-year-old is attending his second Games, has consistently improved ahead of Beijing 2022 is heading to the most significant event of his career so far. But that's not what is fuelling Staudinger ahead of the highlight of the luge calendar next month. Staudinger — born in Berchtesgaden in Bavaria to a British mother and German father — is being motivated by the memory of his friend, mentor and three-time Olympian AJ Rosen, who competed alongside him in Team GB colours at PyeongChang 2018.

Rosen passed away in December aged just 37 after a battle with cancer, sparking tributes from across the sporting world, and Staudinger is keen to honour his friend in Beijing. The German-born ace, whose journey to the Games has been fuelled by a £6,000 injection of funding to luge via UK Sport's Beijing Support Fund, said: «I have my helmet on with a little memory saying 'rest in peace AJ', so I'm going to be sliding for him, definitely. This Olympic Winter Games will be for him.»The way he taught me how luge works as well as the way he explained all his experiences just had a massive impact on me.

«There's been so much going on recently — negatives, positives, but especially negative moments with AJ's death. »It's unbelievably sad because AJ has been more than a teammate. He's been a really good friend.