Cochrane Olympic medallist Tristan Walker is disappointed the luge world championship is being handed to Whistler from its original site in Calgary but he has an even deeper concern about developing future Canadian Olympians in sliding sports.

In the spring, the luge track was closed shortly after 62 luge athletes from Alberta, B.C. and Ontario competed there in the Alberta championships and youth nationals. It won't be reopened until the necessary improvements are completed.

With no sign of enough money being found to complete the work, earlier this week Luge Canada was forced to move the 2021 world championships to the much newer Whistler Sliding Centre that was utilized during the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.

Walker says this is sad news for a track that has been home to every single Canadian Olympian who has medalled in all three sliding disciplines.

He says he's tired of the conversation that this track is for the elite few.

"That’s really not the case," says Walker. "We train in Calgary maybe two weeks at the beginning of the year and if we’re lucky we’ll have a World Cup race. So we’ll spend three weeks a season sliding on the track in Calgary."

"What it’s really important for is the development and novice kids that are learning how to slide and spend their entire winter in Calgary. They don’t really have the opportunities we have. That’s really going to prevent the sport from proliferating."

Walker should know. It was at a young age he took up the sport in Calgary 20 years ago and was able to develop into a world-class athlete.

He's not alone. Of the eight members on the current national luge team, seven are from the Calgary area.

Luge Canada is seeking a positive solution for the future of the track and Walker holds out hope.

"I don’t think that’s the decision they wanted to make," says Walker. "I think It was a decision they had to make and right now they are looking at ways of making it so we can keep sliding on that track."

"I have faith there will be World Cup, world championship races and maybe even another Olympics here down the line," says Walker. "One way or another they will hopefully figure out how to keep us on the track in the future."

The COP track is 33-years old and was at the end of its life cycle when it was closed. A $25-million plan has been approved to return it to a world-class facility but funding is currently about $8 million short.

Walker and his doubles partner Justin Snith were looking forward to competing at their home base for the world championships that was serving as a prelude to the 2022 Olympics that might be their last.