Winter Olympics 2022 - 'Rest in Peace' - Rupert Staudinger's helmet tribute to AJ Rosen after death of 'big brother'

Team GB luger Rupert Staudinger has paid tribute to his late team-mate and three-time Olympian AJ Rosen. Rosen passed away in December at the age of 37 after battling with cancer. Ad/> He competed at Turin 2006, Vancouver 2010 and PyeongChang 2018 and achieved Great Britain's greatest ever result at a luge World Cup, finishing sixth in Calgary during the 2008-2009 season.

/> Beijing 2022'Oh!' — Ukraine's Mandziy suffers nightmare crash in high-speed luge run43 MINUTES AGO And Staudinger sought permission from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to wear a custom helmet reading 'Rest in Peace AJ' when competing in Beijing on Saturday. «I've made a little tribute for my very special friend AJ, who sadly passed away in December because of cancer,» he said. Team GB lose to unbeaten Italy in curling Boe shows timing is everything as Fourcase hails masters of windy conditions «He played a huge part in my career and I decided that it's a little thing to keep his memory alive.

»He was such a great guy. I'm a little bit speechless because it's ever so sad that he's not here anymore because of cancer so young. «I had to get special permission to have the message on the helmet, it had to go through the IOC but that wasn't a problem.» Staudinger competed with Rosen in his first Olympics in 2018, and was full of praise for the athlete who helped him inside the sport and out.

«It's hard to explain,» he added. «He helped in so many ways, not just sliding but general life things. »He played a huge part in my luge career — taught me so much about sliding.