USA Luge earns six top-10 spots at Oberhof World Cup | News, Sports, Jobs

West placed 10th in the men’s singles.

This was the sixth of nine World Cups for the 2023-24 season.

On Saturday, the U.S. team had four sleds in the top 10, two of which were from the women’s doubles team. Chan and Weiler have finished sixth in all but one race this season. Lake Placid’s Sweeney led the U.S. women in eighth place, while Zach DiGregorio and Sean Hollander led the U.S. sled in ninth place in men’s doubles.

–

Team USA’s Maya Chan (first) and Leanin Weiler cross the finish line during the team relay event Sunday at the FIL Luge World Cup in Oberhof, Germany. (Courtesy photo — FIL/Mareks Galinovskis)

team relay

–

Sweeney of Lake Placid was first out of the U.S. gate and built a solid run, setting the stage for DiGregorio of Medway, Mass., and Hollander of Lake Placid. West of Ridgefield, Connecticut State had the fastest reaction times in the men’s event, followed by Chan of Chicago, Illinois, and Weiler of Whitesboro. The team placed 5th with a time of 3 minutes 13.996 seconds.

It was a heated battle between Latvia and Germany until the very end, with everything coming down to the final sled to decide the gold medal.

The German team was led by relay newcomer Merle Froebel, men’s duo Hannes Auramender and Paul Gubitz and Max Langenhan, and women’s duo Jessica Degenhardt and Cheyenne Rosenthal. Germany was lagging behind Latvia until Degenhardt and Rosenthal sped up and took the gold medal at the finish line with a time of 3 minutes 12.942 seconds.

Latvia’s silver medal was won by the men’s duo of Martins Botts and Roberts Plume and the women’s duo of Krysters Aparjods and Anda Upite and Kitiya Bogdanova with a time of 3:13.092. The Austrian team led by Madeleine Eagle, the men’s duo of Thomas Stew and Wolfgang Kindl, and the women’s duo of David Greyerscher, Serena Eagle and Lara Kipp took third place with a time of 3:13.230.

The German team remains in first place in the overall World Cup standings with 440 points. The Austrian team is second in the 400, and the American team remains third in the 340.

–

women’s singles

–

Sweeney led the U.S. women’s team on Saturday after challenging icy conditions on the first run. Sweeney lacked speed in the first heat, and she finished 25th. She took advantage of the early start of her second heat and clinched a comfortable second place, moving up 17 places to finish eighth with a time of 1:25.445. 2022 Olympian Ashley Farquharson of Park City, Utah, was 13th with a time of 1:25.502, and teammate Summer Britcher of Glen Rock, Pennsylvania, skated both heats with a time of 1:25. He was 19th with 886.

It was a golden day for Germany’s Merle Froebel, who took his first career World Cup victory with a time of 1 minute 24.956 seconds. Madeleine Eagle of Austria took second place with a time of 1:35.080, followed by Julia Taubitz of Germany with a time of 1:25.108.

Taubitz remains the top overall World Cup scorer with 625 points, followed by Eagle in second place with 542 points and Germany’s Anna Bereiter in third with 417 points. Farquharson remained in fourth place with 365 points, Sweeney moved from sixth to fifth with 361 points, and Britcher moved down one place. Ranked 9th with 291.

–

men’s singles

–

Sunday was another rough, wet race with unstable ice conditions for the world’s top athletes. Traditionally, top-seeded players start at the end of the standings. The second heat will be run in reverse order of finish. As warm weather has become so common, some top-ranked racers have begun employing different first-heat strategies to slow down. These tactics, such as limping around curves and straight sections, will be deployed in the first heat with the aim of gaining an early starting number in the second heat.

Latvia’s Aparjods, who started near the top in the second run from 17th place, won the gold medal with a time of 1 minute 27.263 seconds. Germany’s Langenhan won the silver medal with a time of 1 minute 27.305 seconds. He and Austria’s David Greyerscher were both gamblers at the tournament. On the first run, I dropped my foot in the middle of the straight line and the final curve to hone my speed. Gleischer, 23rd place, set the fastest time in the second heat and won the bronze medal with a time of 1:27.381.

The US team had a mix of steady runs, fast starts, and a few small mistakes. West, a three-time Olympian, had the fastest start in the second heat, finishing 10th with a time of 1:27.704. 2022 Olympian Johnny Gustafsson of Massena slid in just behind West, taking 11th place with a time of 1:27.736. Hunter Harris of East Fairfield, Vermont, finished 21st with a time of 1:28.119.

Langenhan remains the World Cup points leader with 655 points. Austria’s Jonas Müller was second with 479 points, and Appaljods was third with 470 points. Gustafsson is ninth with 276 points, West is 10th with 272 points and Harris is 18th with 130 points.

–

women’s doubles

–

Chan and Weiler, the 2024 U23 World Championship silver medalists, finished sixth in the first-ever women’s doubles race on Saturday, starting from the same points as the men’s event, with a time of 1:27.090.

“I had a pretty good race (Saturday) even though I made a few little mistakes.” Weiler said. “Overall, we are pretty happy with our performance considering this is our first time competing in a real doubles tournament starting here in Oberhof.”

2024 World Championship bronze medalists Chevonne Forgan and Sophia Kirkby had the fastest start in the second heat, but made a mistake and went too high on curve 10. Forgan, of Chelmsford, Massachusetts, and Kirkby, of Raybrook, finished seventh in one race. :27.210.

Germany’s Degenhardt and Rosenthal won their 10th World Cup race in a time of 1 minute 26.244 seconds, securing a start record of 7.690 seconds and a track record of 43.049 seconds. Italy’s Andrea Fetter and Marion Oberhofer took silver with a time of 1:26.277, while Austria’s Serena Aigle and Kip took third place with a time of 1:26.365.

The difference between the top two overall World Cup leaders is just 10 points. Degenhardt and Rosenthal are first with 565 points, Fetter and Oberhofer are second with 555 points, Eagle and Kipp are third with 484 points, Forgan and Kirkby are fifth with 436 points, and Chan and Weiler are sixth with 334 points. It is ranked first.

–

men’s doubles

–

As the first event to hit the ice, rising temperatures caused conditions to deteriorate and slowed race times for all athletes in the second heat.

DiGregorio, the 2023 Lake Placid World Cup gold medalist, and Hollander had two solid, strong runs after a difficult few weeks. The pair set speed on the bottom of the track on their first run, but ice conditions and a small mistake slowed them down in the second heat. He placed 9th with a time of 1 minute 24.555 seconds.

U.S. teammates Dana Kellogg and Frank Icke, who had just won silver in the team relay in Altenberg last weekend, cleared the track with a clean run but couldn’t get up to speed. Kellogg of Chesterfield, Mass., and Ike of Lititz, Pa., finished 17th with a time of 1:25.234.

The gold medal went to Austria’s Steuy and Kindl with a time of 1 minute 23.928 seconds. It was the duo’s second World Cup victory. Germany’s Aurumender and Gubitz took silver with a time of 1:24.051, while teammates Tobias Wendl and Tobias Alt finished third with a time of 1:24.118.

Stew and Kindle remain in the lead with 586 overall World Cup points. Wendl and Alto are second with 475, and Latvia’s Botts and Plume are third with 470. DiGregorio and Hollander remain in eighth place with 313, while Kellogg and Ike are 11th with 222. .