USA's youngest Olympic luger learned on a homemade wooden track

Here is a story of a very cool dad and a kid developing Olympic-level skills in his own backyard. Per NPR: When Tucker West was 6 years old, he watched the luging in the 2002 Olympics and thought he'd like to give it a try. So his dad, like any enterprising dad, slapped together a wooden luge track in their Ridgefield, Conn., yard:

This dad made a backyard luge for his son. Now he's the youngest person on the US luge team http://t.co/sIS3wFFsnL pic.twitter.com/P6dpmhE04f

— AllThingsConsidered (@npratc) January 28, 2014

Twelve years (and, ya know, some actual training on real luge tracks) later, an 18-year-old West is the youngest competitor on the American luge team in Sochi. And it all started on a track his dad made. VERY COOL DAD.

More of the story, an interview, and some more pictures can be found at NPR.