U.S. Luge Relay Team Wins Silver Medal at World Cup | News, Sports, Jobs

Sunday’s Team USA relay team includes three-time Olympian Emily Sweeney, freshman team Dana Kellogg and Frank Ike, three-time Olympian Tucker West, and two-time World Championship bronze medalists Chevonne Forgan and Sophia. – Made up of Kirkby.

In the women’s singles, Sweeney struggled in the first run, then came back in the second heat to take fifth place. On Saturday, Forgan and Kirkby became America’s top-ranked athletes in the World Cup luge competition, finishing fourth, 0.005 seconds from the podium.

The U.S. men’s doubles team of Kellogg and Ike achieved a career-high sixth place finish in their first season together. West finished seventh in a tough weather-dependent men’s singles race.

team relay

Heavy rain and strong winds created a scenario in which the early starters had an advantage in the team relay. Romania used an early start number and relatively good ice, with Ioana – Corina Buzatoiu, Tudor – the men’s duo of Stefan Handaric and Sebastian Motzka, Valentin Cretu, Larka Stramatural and Mihaela – Carmen Manolescu. The female duo made four clean runs. The run time was 3 minutes 16.301 seconds.

The Latvian team, which came in third, beat the Romanian team with a time of 3 minutes 14.445 seconds. Elina Bitola, the male duo of Martins Botts and Roberts Plume, Christels Appaljods, and the female duo of Anda Iupite and Kitiya Bogdanova had near-perfect runs in their race-winning heats.

Sweeney, of Lake Placid, who was first out of the starting gate for the U.S., made a clean run and hit the pads, leaving Kellogg of Chesterfield, Mass., and Ike of Lititz, Pa., to continue the work and set the record. Tone for the waist. West, of Ridgefield, Conn., got the fastest start in the relay before opening the gate for Forgan and Kirkby of Chelmsford, Mass. The two crossed the finish line and hit the pads hanging above the course with a time of 3 minutes 15.448 seconds.

Teams from Austria and Germany followed the American team, but a combination of mistakes and poor road conditions prevented them from catching up with the Latvian, American, and Romanian teams, who finished first, second, and third, respectively.

This was Romania’s first ever World Cup relay medal.

“I participated in the team relay and finished in second place.” West said. “We’re really excited and we were able to have four strong runs. We had some tough weather conditions this week, but we overcame them and (this year in women’s doubles) I’m looking forward to competing in this relay. It was a lot of fun.”

Despite the problems in today’s relay, the German team took first place in the overall World Cup standings with 340 points. The Austrian team is second with 330, and the American team is third with 285.

women’s doubles

The difference between 2nd and 6th place was just 0.066 seconds, making it a fierce battle for the podium.

Forgan and Kirkby, the 2024 World Championship bronze medalists, narrowly missed out on bronze despite getting the fastest start in the second heat. He finished in 4th place with a time of 1 minute 25 minutes 552 seconds.

“It was a really close race here in Altenberg today.” Folgan said. “I think it was 0.005 to the podium and 0.014 to second place (place), so it was really close. The second run was definitely much better than the first, so I’m happy to finish on a good note. is.”

“Like Chevonne said, it was a close game.” Mr Kirkby added. “After the first run, the top six cars were all within 0.0089 of each other and it was close from there.”

American teammates Maya Chan and Leanne Weiler hit the wall and skidded out of the 360-degree Kreisel Corner on their first run, then had problems on curve 13 in the second moto. Chan, of Chicago, Illinois, and Weiler, of Whitesboro, finished 11th with a time of 1:29.883.

Italy’s Andrea Fetter and Marion Oberhofer won the gold medal with a time of 1 minute 25.337 seconds. Latvia’s Anda Upite and Kitiya Bogdanova set a starting record of 5.910 seconds and won the silver medal with a time of 1:25.538. Germany’s Dayana Eidberger and Saskia Schirmer finished third with a time of 1:25.548.

Fetter and Oberhofer lead the overall World Cup standings with 470 points, followed by Germany’s Jessica Degenhardt and Cheyenne Rosenthal in second with 465 points, and Eitberger and Schirmer in third with 416 points. Forgan and Kirkby are fifth with 390 points, while Chan and Weiler are sixth. At 284.

men’s doubles

Kellogg and Ike continued to make strides for the U.S. team, winning silver in the team relay at the World Championships last weekend.

“We were sixth here in Altenberg, which is our highest position.” Kellogg said. “The race went pretty well. There were a few small mistakes that we can fix for tomorrow, but overall it went very well.”

“As Dana said, this is our best finish and we are really happy with it.” Mr. Ike added. “I think we’ll do well tomorrow. It would be great to win another medal in the team relay, so I hope we can bring that home.”

Kellogg and Ike finished with a time of 1:25.362.

2022 Olympians Zach DiGregorio (Medway, Mass.) and Sean Hollander (Lake Placid) placed 11th with a time of 1:25.541.

The gold medal went to Austria’s Thomas Gutt and Martin Schöpf in a time of 1 minute 24.991 seconds, while the silver medal went to teammates Thomas Støy and Wolfgang Kindl in a time of 1 minute 24.999 seconds. Italy’s Emanuel Rieder and Simon Kainzwaldner finished third with a time of 1 minute 25.116 seconds, taking their first podium of the season.

Stew and Kindle remain in the lead with 485 overall World Cup points. Latvia’s Martins Botts and Roberts Plume are second with 410 points, while Germany’s Tobias Wendl and Tobias Alt are third with 405 points.

DiGregorio and Hollander dropped from sixth to eighth with 274, while Kellogg and Ike moved up two spots to 11th with 198.

women’s singles

Inclement weather played an even more important role in the women’s competition, with Sweeney rising from 26th place after the first heat to fifth. She struggled at the start of her first run, but responded in the second heat with the second fastest start of the day. She finished with a time of 1:48.322.

Britcher, a 2024 Lake Placid World Cup bronze medalist and three-time Summer Olympian from Glen Rock, Pennsylvania, lacked speed in the first heat and missed curve 14 on his second run. I hit a wall. He finished 10th with a time of 1:48.478. 2022 Olympian Ashley Farquharson of Park City, Utah, slipped into curve 15 in the first heat, but had a cleaner second run and finished 11th with a time of 1:48.501. .

Race winner Julia Taubitz (Germany) also made a big move after making a mistake in the first heat. She came from 22nd place to win the gold medal with a time of 1:47.971. This surpassed his teammate Max Langenhan’s remarkable jump from 21st to first in yesterday’s men’s competition. Latvia’s Elina Vitola won the silver medal with a time of 1:48.120, followed by Austria’s Lisa Schulte in third place with a time of 1:48.268.

In terms of overall World Cup scores, Taubitz leads with 555 points, followed by Austria’s Madeleine Eagle in second place with 457 points, and Germany’s Anna Bereiter in third with 357 points. Farquharson is fourth with 335 points, Sweeney is sixth with 319 points and Britcher is eighth with 269 points.

men’s singles

One of the biggest comebacks in recent memory came from Germany’s Max Langenhan. He made a big mistake on Curve 9 in the first heat and finished 21st. The reverse starting order, based on the first heat rankings for the second run, allowed the 2024 world champion to get to the course much earlier, giving him an advantage during the deteriorating ice conditions in the second half of the competition. Langenhan had a near-perfect season, winning every World Cup race this season except for Igls in Austria. He won the gold medal with a time of 1:51.162.

Austria’s David Gleischer took the silver medal with a time of 1 minute 51.283 seconds, and third place went to Latvia’s Kristers Appaljods with a time of 1 minute 51.289 seconds.

West, a three-time Olympian, led the U.S. men today, finishing seventh with a time of 1:51.559. As usual, West of Ridgefield, Conn., had the fastest start times in both heats. Despite the slow conditions, he was just 0.037 seconds shy of the starting record set in 2015. 2022 Olympian Johnny Gustafsson (Massena) placed 11th with a time of 1:51.791. Hunter Harris of East Fairfield, Vermont, continued his first World Cup season, finishing 18th with a time of 1:52.261.

Langenhan remains the World Cup points leader with 570 points. Austria’s Jonas Müller was second with 419 points, and his teammate Nico Gleischer was third with 373 points. Gustafsson is ninth with 242 points, West is 10th with 236 points and Harris is 18th with 110 points.