In four races held here on Friday and Saturday, the U.S. sliders earned four medals — a gold, one silver and two bronzes — and combined for eight other top 10 finishes at the last World Cup tour stop before the holiday break.

The young men’s doubles team of Ansel Haugsjaa and Marcus Mueller was the top U.S. medal winners, highlighting the competition Saturday with a first-place finish. Meanwhile, the women’s duo of Sophia Kirkby and Chevonne Forgan placed third in their doubles race.

On Friday evening, Ashley Farquharson claimed her second career World Cup medal, earning a silver in the women’s singles event. Teammate Summer Britcher, who won gold in the women’s singles World Cup last week, placed third.

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USA Luge’s Marcus Mueller, left, and Ansel Haugsjaa smile shortly after claiming men’s doubles gold at the Lake Placid FIL Luge World Cup on Saturday. (Enterprise photo — Parker O’Brien)

Men’s doubles

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After turning in a disappointing result at the Park City World Cup last week, the American doubles team of Mueller, of Brookfield, Wisconsin, and Haugsjaa, of Framingham, Massachusetts, knew something had to change.

“(That race) really, I think, got the fire lit under us to really lock in for this (one),” Mueller said. “We had a really set game plan.”

And the youngest doubles team on Team USA executed it to near perfection, securing its first-ever World Cup medal in a two-run time of 1 minute, 27.509 seconds.

Team USA’s Tucker West gets ready before a run during the mixed singles event on Saturday in Lake Placid. (Enterprise photo — Chris Gaige)

The duo led the field after the first run, but felt some immediate pressure ahead of the second when Latvia’s Martins Bots and Roberts Plume put down the fastest run of the day.

The American team got off to a bit of a shaky start, according to Haugsjaa.

“I personally made a small mistake, and I bet it on the start, and I think it cost us a little time, but a lot of this sport is being able to put those little mistakes behind you,” he said. “There’s still so much run yet to come. So you just have to put it out of your mind and focus on what’s ahead.”

Mueller and Haugsjaa had at one point fallen behind on time, but the duo found some speed around the Labrynth area of the track to edge out the Latvian by 0.058 seconds.

“Just knowing we had the rest of the track ahead of us — (even though) it was a little sloppy near the chicanes area — we got it back,” Mueller said.

USA Luge’s Sophia Kirkby, left, and Chevonne Forgan celebrate shortly after claiming a bronze in the wommen’s doubles event Saturday at the FIL Luge World Cup in Lake Placid. (Enterprise photo — Parker O’Brien)

Bots and Plume with placed second in 1:27.567, while Austria’s Yannick Mueller and Armin Frauscher were third in 1:27.649.

U.S. teammates Zack DiGregorio of Medway, Massachusetts and Sean Hollander of Lake Placid, who had won silver in Park City last week and won gold in this event the last time it was held here, placed ninth with a time of 1:27.937. Dana Kellogg of Chesterfield, Massachusetts and Frank Ike of Lititz, Pennsylvania, finished 10th in 1:27.987.

With the Olympic Winter Games set for February, each nation is allocated two men’s doubles teams, if all criteria are met.

“It definitely sets us up pretty good for qualified points for the Olympics and everything,” Mueller said. “I think we’re just gonna take this — especially as a learning experience — and keep putting our best foot forward and keep staying focused for these runs.”

Germany’s Toni Eggert and Florian Mueller lead the World Cup standings with 210 points. Juri Gatt and Riccardo Schoepf of Austria are second with 202 points, and Bots and Plume are third with 195.

For the U.S., which didn’t compete in the first World Cup of the season as it didn’t count toward Olympic qualifications, Mueller and Haugsjaa are seventh with 136. DiGregorio and Hollander are ninth with 124 and the duo of Kellogg and Ike are 20th with 68.

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Women’s doubles

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USA Luge’s top women’s doubles team of Forgan of Chelmsford, Massachusetts, and Kirkby of Ray Brook, who finished last season third overall in the FIL World Cup standings, proved once again that they can slide with the world’s best.

The duo was just off the podium after the opening heat — in fourth place — but rallied on their second run to secure the bronze medal in 1:29.119. Forgan said they were able to fix an issue that they had after the first heat.

“We were focused on that,” she said. “We had a plan, and the second run is almost easier in some respects, where you’ve done it once before. So, you know how the ice feels … You can really relax into it and let the sled run. So that’s what we did. I was really happy to fix our mistake and just kind of keep that speed going all the way down.”

Selina Egle and Lara Kipp of Austria won the gold in 1:28.310 and secured a new track record of 44.151. Germany’s Dajana Eitberger and Magdalena Matschina were second in 1:28.594.

Americans Maya Chan of Chicago and Sophia Gordon of Sussex, Wisconsin, earned their best career World Cup finish, placing fifth in 1:29.180.

Unlike the men’s doubles, the women’s event will only allow one team per nation at the upcoming Olympics. Kirkby said they’re just hoping that they can continue to build momentum.

“But more importantly, I just want us to try our best and have fun, because this is a really fun experience,” she said. “It’s an Olympic year, so everything’s a little bit crazier this year. And this is our first Olympics (for women’s doubles), so we’re just experiencing it for the first time and learning what happens as we go.”

In the overall World Cup standings, Egle and Kipp are in first place with 270 points, and Eitberger and Matschina are in second with 255. Germany’s Jessica Degenhardt and Cheyenne Rosenthal are third with 230 points. After two races, the American teams are both in the top 10. Forgan and Kirkby are in sixth place with 125 points, and Chan and Gordon are 10th with 94.

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Women’s singles

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Less than a week after Farquharson won her first career women’s singles World Cup medal — a bronze — in her hometown of Park City, she was able to top that by placing second in Lake Placid.

Farquharson put together two great runs to place second overall in a two-run time of 1:28.956. The 2022 Olympian, who had won three World Cup medals in the relay and the sprint events, said winning back-to-back medals in singles racing is validating.

“It really proves that all the work I’ve put in and everything all the sacrifices and all the stuff that goes into training for something like this is finally paying off,” she said. “All the work that the coaches put in is, it’s fast, you know? I’m going fast, and that’s always a good feeling.”

Britcher, of Glen Rock, Pennsylvania, also stood on the podium once again, placing third overall in 1:29.054. Having posted a gold medal performance in Park City last weekend, Britcher smiled before saying it’s hard to top that.

“I was just trying to stay really grounded. It’s very easy when you race or have a great result to get carried away and start thinking, ‘OK, I’m going fast, I can do this, I can do that,'” she said. “So I was just trying to stay very grounded in how that would happen, which was I stayed very focused. I tried to stay very calm, and most importantly, I really just tried to be grateful to be racing and really just enjoy the run and make sure that I’m actually having a fun time, because that’s why I’m here, because I love it.”

Germany’s Julia Taubitz, a five-time overall World Cup winner, improved on her first heat time, which left her in third place, to earn the top spot with a two-run time of 1:28.824. The win marked Taubitz’s 31st World Cup victory.

Team USA’s Emily Fischnaller was the fastest in the first run in 44.467 seconds, but fell back to fourth place (0.247) after only the fourth-fastest run (44.604) in the second heat. While it was disappointing, the U.S. couldn’t pull off the podium sweep, Britcher said, having three of the top four finishers proves that the U.S. has a lot of depth right now.

“It’s very exciting to see the momentum building as the season goes on,” she said. The youngest American women’s singles slider, Emma Erickson of Park City, Utah placed 16th, tying her best-ever result. The 22-year-old finished with a time of 1:30.216.

In the overall World Cup standings, Germany’s Merle Fraebel and Austria’s Hannah Prock are tied for first place with 185 points. Dorothea Schwarz of Austria is third with 176. Britcher leads the U.S. women in fifth place with 170 points, Farquharson is now in sixth place with 155, Fischnaller is 14th with 90 and Erickson is 26th with 44.

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Men’s singles

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Although the U.S. men’s singles sliders didn’t reach the podium on Saturday, veterans Jonny Gustafson of Massena and Tucker West of Lake Placid secured top-10 finishes.

Gustafson led the U.S. once again, placing ninth with a time of 1:42.284, while West was 10th place in 1:42.442. Gustafson said his runs were pretty decent, but he felt he left some time out on the track.

“It’s a little frustrating seeing our men’s doubles, women’s doubles and women singles do so well and we definitely want to be up on the podium with them,” he said. “So there’s still some improvements to do, but this season has definitely been a step in the right direction.”

Team USA’s Hunter Harris finished the day in 22nd place with a time of 51.806, while teammate Matt Greiner was 26th in 51.917. Harris, of East Fairfield, Vermont, and Greiner, of Park City, Utah, did not complete a second run as only the top 20 sleds are eligible to race in the second heat.

Germany’s Felix Loch was the overall winner, finishing in 1:41.766 to secure the 54th World Cup victory of his career. While the German slider has been dominant throughout his time with the sport, this was the first time he’d reached the podium in Lake Placid since the 2009 World Championships here.

Loch was excited to be atop the podium, especially after a rough start to the week.

“The first (test) run I had a crash here,” he said. “But then it got better and better. Today, I had a really good start. It was, I would say, nearly perfect. So, just in the 2nd round, the start was not so good. But (overall) the runs were really, really good.”

Loch was followed by his teammate Max Langenhan, the reigning world champion, in second place, who recorded a two-run time of 1:41.820. Austria’s Wolfgang Kindl in third in 1:41.969.

Langenhan said the Mount Van Hoevenberg track has typically been challenging for his country.

“Especially in the last few years we were here,” he said. “We gained one podium or something, and normally we stand next to the U.S. boys and cheer for them because they did a great job here. So we are super happy with the outcome of the first and second place.”

Loch is leading the World Cup overall points with 246, followed by Austria’s Jonas Mueller with 245 and Langenhan is third with 240. After two races, Gustafson is 11th with 97 points and West is 28th with 41. Just one point separates Greiner, who is 29th with 37 points, and Harris, who is 30th with 36.

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Mixed relay

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While the mixed doubles event was canceled due to technical problems, the mixed singles event closed out the World Cup. It was the first time this mixed event had taken place at Mount Van Hoevenberg since it debuted last season.

The mixed event features two sleds, a man and a woman. The male athlete takes a normal trip down the track, but instead of the clock stopping at the traditional finish line, he strikes a pad hanging over the track, which opens the gate for the female athlete. The clock stops when she strikes the pad at the bottom of the track.

West and Britcher teamed up on the second USA sled, and finished just off the podium in fourth place, after Britcher hit the paddle at 1:48.480. Gustafson and Farquharson were in the first USA pairing, placing seventh in 1:48.480.

Gustafson said he’s a big fan of the mixed relay event.

“We’re in an individual sport, so anytime you can kind of bridge that gap and make it a team sport, it’s really fun,” he said. “I think all the relays, whether it’s the mixed events or the actual team relay, they are the best events we have. So I’m always excited when I get to do it.”

Team Germany 2, which featured Langenhan and Merle Frabel, won the gold medal with a time of 1:47.611, while Team Germany 1, which consisted Loch and Taubitz of took the silver in 1:47.745. The bronze medal went to Jonas Muller and Schwarz in Team Austria 2 in 1:47.987.