–

Men’s doubles

–

Racing in their first World Championship since becoming a team a year and a half ago, the American duo of Zack DiGregorio, of Medway, Massachusetts, and Sean Hollander, of Lake Placid, secured the gold medal in the U23 World Championships with a time of one minute 24:132 seconds.

The U23 competition serves as a race within the general class World Championship, where they finished seventh.

“We’re super excited to win U23 today at the World Championships, and we were very happy to land in seventh place,” DiGregorio said in a statement.

“It was an extra bonus when we found out we won U23, but we wouldn’t be here without the people around us who support us, and we are hungry to get to the top of the podium out of the entire field,” Hollander said.

The podium was a mirror image of Friday’s sprint races, with Germany taking the top two spots and Austria placing third.

Germany’s Toni Eggert and Sascha Benecken are the World Champions with a time of 1:23.517, followed by 2022 Olympic champions Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt who took silver with a time of 1:23.688. Austria’s Yannick Mueller and Armin Frauscher placed third with a time of 1:23.709.

With Eggert and Benecken’s fifth consecutive World Championship gold medal, they became the first team in history to win five titles.

Eggert and Benecken secured the gold medal and a track record on Friday in the sprint race by crossing the finish line at 26.238 seconds. Wendl and Arlt earned silver with a time of 26.284 and Austria’s Mueller and Frauscher took bronze in 26.317. DiGregorio and Hollander placed 10th with a time of 26.646.

DiGregorio and Hollander were the only USA Luge men’s doubles sled competing in the World Championships this past weekend. The duo of Dana Kellogg, of Chesterfield, Massachusetts, and Duncan Segger, of Lake Placid, did not qualify.

–

Men’s singles

–

Austria’s Jonas Mueller robbed Germany of a gold medal sweep at these championships on Sunday. Mueller won his first World Championship gold with a time of 1:25:478, with Germany’s Langenhan placing second with a time of 1:25.582. 2018 Olympic gold medalist David Gleirscher of Austria placed third with a time of 1:25.599.

Three-time Olympian West had a difficult second heat and finished in 13th place with a time of 1:26.463. Teammate Jonny Gustafson, of Massena, placed 15th with a time of 1:26.574.

“Today’s race wasn’t exactly what I was hoping for. My first run was decent; however, I had some weird issues on the second run,” West said. “In the end, I only dropped back two spots, so it wasn’t the end of the world for the place I was competing for. The gap to the top sleds was just too large today. As is evident from the results of all the disciplines, there was just no competing with Germany and Austria’s technology this weekend. We’ll regroup and try to learn from this race weekend and hopefully bring some more speed to Altenberg.”

In the sprint race on Friday, Germany’s Felix Loch, a three-time Olympic champion, won gold with a time of 33.544, making him the first male athlete to win multiple sprint World Championship titles since the event’s debut in 2016.

The sprint race featured the top 15 athletes in each discipline based on their finish in the qualification races which took place earlier that day. Start times for the single-heat races begin at a lower point on the track than traditional races, placing an emphasis on driving skill over speed at the start.

Mueller earned silver with a time of 33.617, and current European Champion, Langenhan, won bronze in 33.666.

West was the only American men’s singles sled to race in the sprint as Gustafson did not qualify. West placed 12th with a time of 33.958.

–

Women’s doubles

–

The top U.S. women’s doubles team was Chevonne Forgan, of Chelmsford, Massachusetts, and Sophie Kirkby, of Ray Brook. The duo placed sixth in a time of 31.522 in Friday’s women’s doubles event.

Maya Chan, of Chicago, Illinois, and Reannyn Weiler, of Whitesboro, placed ninth with a time of 31.631. Chan and Weiler showed speed until the duo made a slight error out of curve 13, costing them time.

The American duo of Summer Britcher, of Glen Rock, Pennsylvania, and Emily Sweeney, of Lake Placid, did not compete in Oberhof, Germany. Britcher did compete in singles, but Sweeney is dealing with recurring neck issues.

Jessica Degenhardt and Cheyenne Rosenthal of Germany defended their title as the first women’s doubles world champions, taking the gold with a time of 31.205.

Austria’s Selina Egle and Lara Kipp earned silver in 31.221 and Italy’s Andrea Vtter and Marion Oberhofer placed third at 31.228.

On Saturday, Degenhardt and Rosenthal also took home the gold in 1:17.619. Egle and Kipp earned silver at 1:17.745 and Vtter and Oberhofer took bronze in 1:17.806.

The American team of Forgan and Kirkby placed sixth with a time of 1:18.472, while Chan and Weiler placed ninth with a time of 1:18.796.

“We are very happy to have put down two clean and consistent runs, and we are confident that the speed will come,” Forgan said.

“It was a great feeling having put down two solid runs for our World Championship race here in Oberhof, Germany,” Kirkby said.

–

Women’s singles

–

Brittany Arndt of Park City, Utah was the top American in women’s singles, placing eighth, her personal best at the World Championships, on Friday.

Arndt finished with a time of 26.379. Ashley Farquharson, of Park City, Utah, placed 11th with a time of 26.471 and Britcher finished 15th at 26.767. Sweeney did not compete.

“I really struggled the last two weeks with pain in my spine and neck, so I’m really happy to be racing and performing how I know I can,” Arndt said. “Top ten in a World Championship race is more than I was expecting so I’m really stoked.”

Germany swept the podium with Dajana Eitberger winning gold in a time of 26.204. Eitberger is enjoying her final season as a singles racer, having recently announced that she will focus on doubles exclusively next year.

German teammate Julia Taubitz placed second with a time of 26.205. Anna Berreiter completed the German sweep with a time of 26.232.

On Saturday, Germany duplicated its podium sweep in the sprint race. This time Germany was led by Berreiter. The current Oberhof start record holder, Berreiter, won gold with a time of 1:23.991.

Taubitz placed second with a time of 1:24.049 and Eitberger took bronze with a time of 1:24.107. Germany’s Merle Fraebel took gold in the U23 race, winning with a time of 1:24.203.

Britcher led the American women with a time of 1:24.784, finishing her World Championships in 12th place. Arndt placed 14th with a time of 1:24.859 and Farquharson finished in 15th with a time of 1:25.04.

–

Team relay

–

Team Germany ended the World Championships with a golden exclamation point on Sunday. The team took 18 out of the 28 available medals. The duo of Eggert/Benecken, Max Langenhan and Anna Berreiter, won with a time of 2:22.266. In a tight race, Austria took home silver with a time of 2:22.289. Latvia got their first podium finish of the championships, a bronze, with a time of 2:22.666.

Team USA, led by the duo of DiGregorio and Hollander, Tucker West, of Ridgefield, Connecticut, and Summer Britcher, of Glen Rock, Pennsylvania, finished in fifth place at 2:23.229.