Is there anything distinctive about the 2006 Olympic luge course, the venue and Torino?

Benshoof: “The track is in a bit of a valley and on either side of the track, there are steep mountains. From the top of the men’s start, you can see down into the valley and you can basically see the whole track from the men’s start.”

What does the city of Torino feel like for someone who has not been there?

Benshoof: “Cesana Pariol (Italy) is very secluded and real picturesque, while Torino is more metropolitan with lots of action and big buildings, a real urban feel. There’s a pretty big difference between the two locations.”

Can you continue to maintain the current successful pace even after the approaching holiday break?

Benshoof: “I’m going to take every race just like I’ve been taking them. In terms of my approach to each race, in no way am I going to peak, actually the way I feel physically, I feel like I have a lot of ground to make up, especially on my start. That’s where I’m focusing my energy now and I’m going to hit the weights really hard between now and the Games and try to gain a lot of strength.”

Have you changed you sled much during the season and do you anticipate you’ll leave the setup alone as you go into the Games?

Benshoof: “I’m really satisfied with the way my sled is running, I’m not going to change a whole lot. The sled ran great in Torino (Italy) and there’s no reason to change anything, I’m very happy with the way it’s going.”

After the first week of the season you had felt that it was too early to judge the international field. How does the field look now after three World Cup races?

Benshoof: “I’m starting to see a little bit of a gap between the top four to five sliders and the rest of the field. Right now, it looks like Armin Zoeggeler (Italy), myself,

Markus Kleinheinz (Austria), Albert Demtschenko (Russia) and David Moeller (Germany) are pretty much trying to fight it out amongst us. And then of course there’s Georg Hackl (Germany), who will certainly be a factor at the Games.”

Do you have a favorite place to travel and what do you enjoy doing while traveling?

Benshoof: “My favorite thing to do is just walk around and take in the sites and depending on the location, see what particular attraction that place has to offer. There’s so much history in every city, I find that fascinating.”

Do you ever get tired of winning and is there a fear that there’s more expected from you with each medal or win?

Benshoof: “Of course I don’t get tired of winning, by any stretch. I will never tire of winning, and I have a tremendous amount of respect for athletes who never make it to the podium. Very few people make it to the podium, there are a lot of people out there putting in the same amount of hard work I do and never even finish in the top-10. Every time I get to the bottom of the hill and I realize that I’ve won or that I’ll be on the podium I’m pretty happy, I will never complain about winning.”

When the Olympics arrive, you’ll be competing pretty early (Feb. 11-15). Do you like going off early, or would you prefer racing towards the end of the Games?

Benshoof: “I’m very happy that we race right away. It’s nice to get it over with and get it done, so that you can enjoy the rest of the time there. A lot of athletes spend so much of the Olympics with their competition hanging over them, so it’s very nice to have that out of the way, right off the bat.”

In winning your 22nd international medal recently, is there any particular athlete, perhaps Duncan Kennedy, that you emulated or molded yourself after over the years?

Benshoof: “I competed and traveled with Duncan (Kennedy) through a number of years, from 1995 to 1998. He was a huge idol for me, even before I traveled or competed with him. I remember when I was 15-years-old, he was the number one slider, I respected him a lot, and I still do, of course. It’s very nice to get out from underneath his and Wendel Suckow’s shadows and stand alone as the all-time singles leader in medals won. If you had asked me five years ago, I never would have thought that I would break Duncan’s record.”

What do you think they’ll be saying about you five or 20 years from now?

Benshoof: “I don’t know what they’ll be saying, hopefully there will be many more athletes to come that will break my record. I think that if they say anything, they’ll say that I was a pretty modest slider, a pretty modest athlete.”

Is this your last Olympics?

Benshoof: “It’s tough to say there’s a lot that hinges on it. The last three years have been wonderful. The reason that I’ll retire is because I want to move on to other parts of my life. It will never be because of political reasons or lack of funding, sponsorship or support. After these Games, I’ll sit down and make that decision, but I’m not saying either way, I’m not ruling out 2010 because Vancouver (Canada) will be a wonderful place for a final Olympics.”