(NEXSTAR) - Team USA luge athlete Sophia Kirkby made Olympic history Wednesday, competing in the first-ever women's doubles event. The debut of women's doubles luge marks the first time the event has been featured in the Olympic Games. Kirkby, who is also making her Olympic debut, said she hopes the inclusion of the event creates a lasting legacy for female athletes. "I don't want to be known as the first women's double sled," Kirkby said. "I want to be known as the first of many." Kirkby's journey to the ice was marked by the loss of her father, Kirkby, who died from prostate cancer in June 2024. To keep him close during her runs, she writes his words on her racing gloves. "I wrote his words on my gloves so I can be racing with him and I really felt like he was with me today," Kirkby said. She recalled him telling her on his deathbed that he was sorry he would not make it to her Olympics, but that he hoped to be there giving her "a little push." To manage the stress of competition and the grief of the loss of her father, Kirkby creates handmade clay pins that she trades and sells, a concept she introduced to bring a new element to the Olympic experience. Kirkby has established herself as an entrepreneur by selling the pins. She believes she is the first Olympian to sell her own products at the games. "I am hand-making pins," Kirkby said. "I like how it's special." She described the process as taking stamps, pressing them into clay, cutting them like cookies and firing them in a kiln before hand-painting each piece. The pin project also serves as a tribute to other female athletes. Kirkby designed silhouettes of women in bobsled and other sports to promote women competing at the highest levels. She partnered with several high-profile Olympians on the project, including Team USA women's hockey captain Hilary Knight and five-time Olympian Elana Myers Taylor. Other partners include 2025 world champion Keisha Love and Mystique Rowe, who is making her Olympic debut in women's skeleton. "Made a bunch of pins to try and promote women competing at the highest level," Kirkby said. The pins have become a popular commodity within the Olympic village, where pin trading is a long-standing tradition. Kirkby noted that the demand for her handmade items has grown rapidly among her fellow athletes. "Everyone wants a pin and it's crazy how it's a currency here," Kirkby said. "And I feel like the pin trading queen." All facts in this report were gathered by journalists employed by Nexstar. Artificial intelligence tools were used to reformat from a broadcast script into a news article for our website. This report was edited and fact-checked by Nexstar staff before being published