The United States squad consisted of 2022 Olympians Ashley Farquharson, Zack DiGregorio and Sean Hollander, Jonny Gustafson and 2023 Lake Placid World Cup bronze medalists Chevonne Forgan and Sophie Kirkby. The team was among the strongest in a field wrought with crashes and missed paddles.

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Team relay

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It was a mirror image podium of the Whistler relay held in December, with Germany, Austria and Team USA taking the top spots on Jan. 7.

Prior to the United States hitting the ice, medal-contending teams from Italy and Latvia crashed out of the race. The Romanian team failed to hit the touchpad, resulting in a disqualification.

Farquharson of Park City, Utah was the first sled for USA Luge, setting the tone for the team by posting the second-fastest time for women in the competition. DiGregorio of Medway, Massachusetts, Hollander of Lake Placid, Gustafson of Massena, Forgan of Chelmsford, Massachusetts and Kirkby of Ray Brook continued the work and secured the bronze with a time of 3 minutes, 12.676 seconds.

“We were super excited to race (in the) team relay again,” Forgan said. “We had a big skid at the bottom, but I’m glad we are still on the podium and I’m happy for us.”

The German relay team, led by Anna Berreiter, Tobias Wendl, Tobias Arlt, Max Langenhan, Jessica Degenhardt and Cheyenne Rosenthal secured their second consecutive gold medal in relay, crossing the finish in 3:11.425. Hannah Prock, Thomas Gatt, Martin Schoepf, Jonas Mueller, Selina Egle and Lara Kipp gave Team Austria the silver with a time of 3:11.468.

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Men’s singles

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Germany’s Max Langenhan remains untouchable, securing his tenth consecutive World Cup victory and his fourth consecutive gold medal this season. The Winterberg track record holder crossed the finish line in 1:43.695.

Gustafson was the top-finishing American, placing 10th with a time of 1:44.579. Although teammate and three-time Olympian Tucker West of Ridgefield, Connecticut had the fastest starts in both heats, he struggled to find speed on the lower part of the track and finished the day in 14th place in 1:44.875.

Junior National Team member Matt Greiner of Park City, Utah made his World Cup debut with two solid runs, placing 18th with a time of 1:45.344. Hunter Harris of East Fairfield, Vermont, failed to qualify and did not race.

Joining Langenhan on the podium was Italy’s Dominik Fischnaller, who placed second in 1:43.871. The bronze medal went to recently crowned Latvian national champion Kristers Asparjods with a time of 1:43.877.

Langenhan continues his perfect World Cup overall point, standing with 400. Austria’s Jonas Mueller is second with 280 and teammate Nico Gleirscher is third with 246. Gustafson leads the U.S. men in eighth place with 169 points and West is just behind in ninth with 162. Harris is in 19th with 74 and Greiner is 31st with 23 points.

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Women’s singles

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The U.S. women’s singles team was led by 2022 Olympian Farquharson, who placed sixth, while Emily Sweeney finished the day in eighth place after coming back from a challenging first run.

Farquharson, one of the team’s most consistent athletes of the early World Cup campaign, crossed the finish line in one minute 51.936 seconds, securing sixth place. Three-time Olympian Sweeney was in 14th place following mistakes in her first heat. Sweeney, of Lake Placid, fought back with the third fastest run of the second heat and finished in eighth with a time of 1:52.154.

“It’s a bit of a shoulda, woulda, coulda situation for me,” Sweeney said. “Clearly, I had a much better second run, but my first run had too many big mistakes to come back from. I have a lot more work to do before Worlds (World Championships), but it’s nice to see the speed is possible.”

World Championships will be held in Altenberg, Germany later this month.

2023 Lake Placid World Cup bronze medalist Summer Britcher of Glen Rock, Pennsylvania had problems in the lower portion of the course during her second heat, culminating with a minor crash after crossing the finish line. She finished 13th in 1:52.376. Junior National Team member Emma Erickson of Park City, Utah was 24th with a time of 1:53.957.

Austria’s Madeleine Egle won her second gold medal of the season with a time of 1:51.392. Germany’s Julia Taubitz took silver in 1:51.421, with Egle’s teammate Hannah Prock earning her second World Cup career medal with the bronze in 1:51.697.

Taubitz remains the World Cup overall leader with 370 points followed by Egle with 315. Farquharson is third with 241 and Sweeney is in fifth with 214, while Britcher is seventh with 156 and Erickson is 26th with 38.

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Women’s doubles

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Forgan and Kirkby, who earned a bronze medal at the 2022 World Championships in Winterberg, placed fifth in 1:27.474, while teammates Maya Chan of Chicago, Illinois and Reannyn Weiler of Whitesboro placed sixth with a time of 1:27.534.

Germany’s Jessica Degenhardt and Cheyenne Rosenthal secured their second victory of the season with a time of 1:28.924. The duo also won the German Championships, which took place on Dec. 29, 2023, in Altenberg, Germany. Italy’s Andrea Voetter and Marion Oberhofer placed second in 1:27.156. Although Austria’s Selina Egle and Lara Kipp secured a track record in the second heat of the Jan. 6 race with a time of 43.496, they finished the day in third in 1:27.175. Forgan and Kirkby’s start record, set in February of last year, was not broken on Jan. 6..

Egle and Kipp remain the overall World Cup women’s doubles leaders with 325 points. Degenhardt and Rosenthal move into second with 310, bumping Germany’s Dajana Eitberger and Saskia Schimer into third with 300 points. Forgan and Kirkby are fifth with 260 while teammates Chan and Weiler are sixth with 200.

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Men’s doubles

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DiGregorio and Hollander battled small mistakes throughout their two runs and crashed when they crossed the finish line in the second heat. They walked away from the incident and ended the day in eighth place with a time of 1:26.657. Teammates Dana Kellogg of Chesterfield, Massachusetts and Frank Ike of Lititz, Pennsylvania who placed third in yesterday’s qualifying race, landed in tenth place in 1:26.807.

Team USA planned on bringing up the Junior National Team duo of Marcus Mueller of Brookfield, Wisconsin and Ansel Haugsjaa of Framingham, Massachusetts for their World Cup debut, but Mueller has been recovering from an illness.

The gold medal went to Austria’s Thomas Gatt and Martin Schoepf with a time of 1:26.145. Germany’s Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt placed second in 1:26.211, and in third place were Hannes Orlamuender and Paul Gubitz of Germany in 1:26.236. Wendl and Arlt set a new track record of 42.940 in the second heat. The previous record was held by Toni Eggert and Sascha Benecken of Germany. Eggert now serves as a coach for Team USA.

Wendl and Arlt lead the World Cup overall points with 310. Austria’s Thomas Steu and Wolfgang Kindl are in second with 301, and Latvia’s Martins Bots and Roberts Plume are third with 265. DiGregorio and Hollander dropped from fourth to sixth with 222, and Kellogg and Ike improved to 13th place from 15th with 106.