USA Luge’s Summer Britcher, wearing the FIL Luge World Cup leader bib, competes in the Winterberg, Germany World Cup on Saturday. (Provided photo — FIL/Michael Kristen)

WINTERBERG, Germany — With the Olympics looming, USA Luge sliders put together another solid weekend of World Cup racing in Winterberg, Germany.

The competition also marked the end of the qualifications for the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Cortina d’Ampezzo, with the nominees of the men’s and women’s doubles decided for Team USA.

Two-time World Championship medalists Chevonne Forgan and Sophia Kirkby secured a nomination for the 2026 Olympic Team and their legacy in USA Luge history as the first women’s doubles team to represent the U.S. on the Olympic stage. In men’s doubles, 2025 Lake Placid World Cup winners Marcus Mueller and Ansel Haugsjaa will join 2022 Olympians Zack DiGregorio and Sean Hollander on the nomination ticket to Cortina.

The nominations for the 2026 Olympic Games, which also include USA Luge women’s singles Summer Britcher, Ashley Farquharson, Emily Fischnaller and men’s singles Jonny Gustafson and Matt Greiner, will be officially confirmed on Jan. 16.

Having secured nominations in all four disciplines, the United States has also qualified to compete in the team relay event at the 2026 Olympics.

Women’s doubles

Forgan, of Chelmsford, Massachusetts, and Kirkby, of Ray Brook, who are the current start record holders in Winterberg, were in fifth place going into the second heat. The duo had the fastest start time of the second heat and remained in fifth with a time of one minute, 27.315 seconds.

Teammates Maya Chan of Chicago and Sophia Gordon of Sussex, Wisconsin, were just behind Forgan and Kirkby, landing in sixth place with a time of 1:27.419. The Olympic field will consist of 11 women’s doubles teams. In all likelihood, each nation competing will receive one entry. This will also be confirmed on Jan. 16.

Germany’s Jessica Degenhardt and Cheyenne Rosenthal won the race in 1:26.710, followed by Austrians Selina Egle and Lara Kipp with a time of 1:26.810. In third were Dajana Eitberger and Magdalena Matschina of Germany in 1:27.079.

Egle and Kipp are the World Cup overall leaders with 455 points. Eitberger and Matschina are second with 410, and Degenhardt and Rosenthal are third with 330.

The entire U.S. team skipped the first World Cup of the season, as it was not a part of the Olympic qualification process. With four events remaining, Forgan and Kirkby hold onto fourth place in the overall standings with 235 points. Chan and Gordon are seventh with 194.

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Men’s doubles

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The Winterberg track was unforgiving for the men’s doubles teams, with almost no sleds immune to mistakes. All three U.S. sleds were no exception. Mueller, of Brookfield, Wisconsin and Haugsjaam of Framingham, Massachusetts, placed 10th with a time of 1:26.176. DiGregorio, of Medway, Massachusetts, and Hollander, of Lake Placid, were 12th in 1:26.290.

Dana Kellogg of Chesterfield, Massachusetts, and Frank Ike of Lititz, Pennsylvania, crashed as they entered the end of their first run but made it over the finish line to secure a spot in the second heat. In the second run, the duo suffered another crash and did not finish.

The gold medal went to Germany’s Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt with a time of 1:25.599. In second was Austria’s Thomas Steu and Wolfgang Kindl in 1:25.653, with teammates Juri Gatt and Ricardo Schoepf in third in 1:25.688.

Wendl and Arlt lead the World Cup overall standings with 368 points, followed by Gatt and Schoepf in second with 314, and Latvia’s Martins Bots and Roberts Plume in third with 307. Mueller and Haugsjaa are ninth with 211 points, DiGregorio and Hollander follow in 11th with 183, and Kellogg and Ike are 19th with 106.

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Women’s singles

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Following her second World Cup gold medal of the season last weekend in Sigulda, Britcher, of Glen Rock, Pennsylvania, wore the World Cup Leader bib for today’s race. She was fourth going into the second heat, but a mistake pushed her back into fifth place with a time of 1:52.527.

Fischnaller, of Lake Placid, overcame mistakes on both runs and held on to finish in 18th with a time of 1:53.296. She needed to finish in front of several athletes, including Nina Zoeggler of Italy, who finished 22nd, to earn the third qualification spot for the U.S. team.

2022 Olympian Farquharson did not finish her first run following a mistake in curve 13. Emma Erickson (Park City, Utah) placed 23rd with a time of 57.145. She did not qualify to race in the second heat.

The lineup for Cortina next month will be officially confirmed on Jan. 16, but is expected to feature Britcher, Farquharson and Fischnaller.

Austria’s Hannah Prock won the gold with a time of 1:51.885. In second was Germany’s Julia Taubitz in 1:51.972, and third was Verena Hofer of Italy in 1:52.250.

In the overall World Cup standings, Prock leads with 331 points, Taubitz is second with 329 and Britcher is third with 325. Farquharson is ninth with 220, Fischnaller 16th with 123 and Erickson is 29th with 62 points.

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Men’s singles

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Gustafson, of Massena, was the top finishing sled for the U.S., placing ninth with a time of 1:43.640. He clinched a nomination earlier in the season. Teammate Greiner, of Park City, Utah, was 15th in 1:44.028, securing the two-time Junior World Championship medalist his first Olympic Team nomination.

“Today was unbelievable. The men’s series all the way back to just making the World Cup team, came right down to the wire,” Greiner said. “I had the best race of my career on my favorite track in the world today and got the job done when it mattered. It’s literally a dream come true.”

West, of Lake Placid, finished in 20th place with a two-run combined time of 1:44.342. To earn a 2026 Olympic nomination, he needed a 16th-place or better. The other path was to finish in front of Greiner. Neither scenario played out for the three-time Olympian and winner of three World Cup gold medals.

Hunter Harris of East Fairfield, Vermont, did not qualify to race.

Austrian Jonas Mueller won the race in 1:42.899. In second was Felix Loch of Germany in 1:43.004, with Nico Gleirscher of Austria in third in 1:43.016.

Gustafson moves down one spot to 12th place in overall World Cup points with 160. West bumps up two spots to 25th with 76, Greiner is 27th with 74 points and Harris is 30th with 60 points.

Just one point separates Loch and Mueller for first and second place with 431 and 430 points, respectively. Max Langenhan of Germany is third with 365.

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Team relay

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Team USA began strong, with Britcher and then Mueller and Haugsjaa pushing off with the second fastest starts in their disciplines. Gustafson was up next, and then Forgan and Kirkby, who had the fastest start, brought the team to the finish. Team USA placed fourth with a time of 3:13.289. The United States has placed no lower than fourth in the three races in which they’ve competed.

Germany won gold with a time of 3:12.106, with Austria second in 3:12.729. Italy was third in 3:12.834.

In the overall World Cup standings, Austria is the leader with 355 points, Latvia is second with 270 and Germany is third with 255. The United States is seventh with 200 points.