Team USA’s relay team celebrates after winning a bronze medal in a luge World Cup race in Winterberg, Germany on Feb. 26. Pictured from left are Zack DiGregorio, Sean Hollander, Tucker West and Emily Sweeney. (Provided photo — FIL/Mareks Galinovskis)

WINTERBERG, Germany–The United States relay squad of Emily Sweeney, Tucker West, Zack DiGregorio and Sean Hollander won the bronze medal in the final event of the 2022-23 FIL World Cup season. It was the second consecutive podium appearance for the relay team and their third of the season.

–

Team Relay

–

Sweeney, of Lake Placid, was the first to pull from the start for the United States. She made minor mistakes at the start and finish of the run, but still managed to post the third-fastest time among the women competing. West, of Ridgefield, Connecticut, and the team of DiGregorio, of Medway, Massachusetts, and Hollander, of Lake Placid, followed up with clean runs and quick reaction times. The team hit the paddle at two minutes 23.570 seconds.

“We just finished the season in Winterberg with a bronze medal effort in the team relay,” said West, a three-time World Cup winner in men’s singles. “The team did really great and had a good relay.”

“We were pretty happy with that run after a pretty rough day yesterday,” said 2022 Olympian Hollander. “We are just happy that we could do this in the team relay.”

“I didn’t have the great run so thanks to these guys for anchoring it, but overall, I’m really proud of the team for the season and it’s time to go back to America,” said Sweeney, the winner of four World Cup medals in women’s singles this season.

“Thank you all for the support and for following along and everything. It’s been a really good year,” said 2022 Olympian DiGregorio said in a statement.

It was a particularly strong weekend for the Austrians, with seven medals, including three golds, on the German’s home ice. Madeleine Egle, Jonas Mueller and the doubles team of Thomas Gatt and Martin Schpf, convincingly won the gold medal in 2:22.732 for Austria. Germany’s Anna Berreiter, Max Langenhan and Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt took the silver in 2:23.291.

Heading into today’s relay, the United States held a 25-point advantage over the Austrians in the overall World Cup relay points chase. However, with Austria’s victory in the final event, they moved five points in front of the United States to take third with 340. The U.S. squad finished the season in fourth place with 335 points.

Germany brought home the World Cup relay championship trophy with 540 points, Latvia took second with 470, and Austria was third with 340.

–

Men’s singles

–

Despite missing the first half of the season due to a hand injury, Max Langenhan of Germany finished with his sixth consecutive gold medal today. Along the way, he broke a track record set in 2018 by teammate and three-time Olympic gold medalist Felix Loch. Langenhan set the track record in 51.640 seconds on his first run and crossed the finish line with a two-run combined time of 1:43.364. Reigning World Champion Jonas Mueller of Austria placed second in 1:43.543, and his teammate Nico Gleirscher placed third in 1:43.603.

Three-time Olympian West posted two of the best start times of the race. He finished in 16th place with a time of 1:44.981 after a combination of sled set up issues and small mistakes saw him lose time.

2022 Olympic bronze medalist Dominik Fischnaller of Italy brought home his first overall World Cup trophy with 812 points, followed by Loch in second with 767. Langenhan placed third with 685 points.

West led the U.S. athletes placing in tenth place with 459 points. Jonny Gustafson of Massena ended his season with 327 points in 15th. 2018 Olympic silver medalist Chris Mazdzer only competed in North America and finished his season with 114 points in 27th place.

The U.S. squad will head to Park City, Utah, for more training and equipment testing through March 12. Meanwhile, the Norton Youth and Junior National Championships will take place in Lake Placid on March 4-5 and 11-12, respectively. The season will officially close with the Master’s National Championships on April 2, also in Lake Placid.

–

Women’s singles

–

Austria’s Madeleine Egle came out on top, winning her fourth race of the season in one minute 52.843 seconds. Her teammate Lisa Schulte took silver in 1:53.067. Anna Berreiter was the only German to place on the podium, taking the bronze in 1:53.088.

Sweeney was sitting in the bronze medal position after the first heat but dropped back a place following her second run. She finished fourth in 1:53.148 and closed the season ranked fifth in the overall World Cup standings with 602 points.

“Today was a mix of positives and negatives. It’s always a bummer to move back off the podium on a second run, but overall, it was a pretty good race for me,” said the two-time Olympian and 2019 World Championship bronze medalist here in Winterberg. “To end up fifth overall is really great for me. It’s absolutely a team effort and I’m happy I could do my part. After my injuries, I thought a solid overall result wasn’t going to happen. I’m proud of all the work that we did this year, and I’m really looking forward to some postseason time at home!”

Germany’s Julia Taubitz brought home the World Cup championship trophy with 947 points, followed by teammates Dajana Eitberger in second with 852 and Berreiter in third with 789. Ashley Farquharson of Park City, Utah earned 343 points in 15th place, while Summer Britcher of Glen Rock, Pennsylvania had 279 in 16th and Brittany Arndt of Park City, Utah had 222 in 18th.

Women’s doubles

In a race typically determined by hundredths of seconds, Austria’s Selina Egle and Lara Kipp won emphatically in 1:28.169. Selina’s older sister, Madeleine, took gold in the women’s singles race. Reigning World Champions Jessica Degenhardt and Cheyenne Rosenthal of Germany finished second in 1:28.508, while Italy’s Andrea Vtter and Marion Oberhofer were third in 1:28.554.

Forgan, of Chelmsford, Massachusetts, and Kirkby, of Ray Brook, placed fifth, crossing the finish line in 1:28.740. Continuing a season-long trend, the duo set the fastest start times in both heats, coming within .007 of their own start record set two weeks ago.

“We are so happy with our first place start times today,” Forgan said. “We had a few small mistakes in our runs but overall, they were pretty consistent.”

“We are so happy to achieve a start record this season in Winterberg, Germany,” Kirkby said. “We had a terrific consistent season that holds a promising future.”

With 1010 points, Vtter/Oberhofer won the World Cup Championship, followed by Egle/Kipp in second with 915, and Degenhardt/Rosenthal placing third with 898.

Forgan/Kirkby were fifth with 635 points. The team of Maya Chan of Chicago, Illinois and Reannyn Weiler of Whitesboro finished their season in seventh with 428 points. Sweeney and Britcher finished their season in ninth place with 295 points.

–

Men’s doubles

–

Six-time Olympic Champions Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt of Germany stood at the top of the podium in today’s race. By doing so, they also won the overall World Cup title, edging out defending champions and teammates Toni Eggert and Sascha Benecken.

For the 52nd time in their career, Wendl/Arlt won a World Cup race. They did it with a two-run combined time of 1:26.690, followed by Eggert/Benecken with silver in 1:26.747. Austria’s Thomas Gatt and Martin Schpf finished third in 1:26.822.

DiGregorio and Hollander hit a wall going into the final curve on their second run, resulting in a crash. They finished the season in ninth overall with 476 points, while the American duo of Dana Kellogg of Chesterfield, Massachusetts and Duncan Segger of Lake Placid placed 14th, earning 254. Wendl/Arlt stood on top with 1014 points, Eggert/Benecken in second with 955, and Latvia’s Martins Bots and Roberts Plume were third with 757.