USA Luge’s Ashley Farquharson high-fives fans after completing a run in the FIL Luge World Cup in the Oberhof, Germany World Cup on Saturday. (Provided photo — FIL/Michael Kristen)

OBERHOF, Germany– Following the final Olympic qualification races in Winterberg, Germany, last weekend, a contingent of USA Luge athletes continues to race on the World Cup circuit before the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 begin in less than three weeks’ time.

The U.S. sliders posted solid results on Saturday and Sunday, which included a top-10 finish in nearly every race, save for the men’s singles event.

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Women’s singles

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Following the first run, 2022 Olympian Ashley Farquharson, of Park City, Utah, and Summer Britcher were in 12th and 13th places, respectively. Farquharson found speed in the second heat and finished ninth with a time of 1 minute, 23:458 seconds. Britcher, of Glen Rock, Pennsylvania, was 13th with a time of 1:23.811.

Emily Fischnaller of Lake Placid did not race in Oberhof, opting to train in St. Moritz before heading to Cortina.

The gold medal went to Merle Fraebel of Germany with a time of 1:22.867. In second place was Lisa Schulte of Austria in 1:23.146, and Switzerland’s Natalie Maag was third in 1:23.148.

In the World Cup overall standings, Schulte and Germany’s Julia Taubitz are tied for first place with 379 points. In third place is Hannah Prock of Austria with 373. Britcher is fourth with 355 points and Farquharson is ninth with 259. Fischnaller is tied for 18th place with Latvia’s Zane Kaluma with 123 points and Erickson is 34th with 62. Erickson is not currently with the team, as only the Olympic team is traveling on the circuit, and she is not expected to race again this season.

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Men’s singles

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Massena native Jonny Gustafson, a 2022 Olympian, and Matt Greiner made mistakes in both runs Saturday, placing 19th and 20th, respectively, in both heats. Gustafson finished the day with a time of 1:26.271, followed by Greiner of Park City, Utah, with a time of 1:26.467.

Jonas Mueller of Austria won the race with a time of 1:24.549, followed by Germany’s Felix Loch in second in 1:24.640, and teammate Max Langenhan third in 1:24.824.

Mueller leads the overall World Cup standings with 530 points. Loch is second with 516 and Langenhan is third with 435. Gustafson is 11th with 182 points, Greiner is 24th with 95, West is 28th with 76 points and Hunter Harris of East Fairfield, Vermont, is 33rd with 60 points. Like Erickson, West and Harris are not traveling with the team and are not expected to compete again this season.

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Women’s doubles

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Two-time World Championship medalists Chevonne Forgan of Chelmsford, Massachusetts, and Sophia Kirkby of Ray Brook began each race with the second fastest start time, but slowly lost speed down the course. They finished in fourth place with a time of 1:24.645.

Maya Chan of Chicago and Sophia Gordon of Sussex, Wisconsin, were ninth with a time of 1:25.625.

The gold medal went to Germany’s Jessica Degenhardt and Cheyenne Rosenthal in 1:23.956. Austria’s Selina Egle and Lara Kipp took silver in 1:24.137, and in third were Dajana Eitberger and Magdalena Matschina of Germany in 1:24.288.

In the overall World Cup standings, Egle and Kipp are the leaders with 540 points, Eitberger and Matschina are second with 480, and Degenhardt and Rosenthal are third with 430. Forgan and Kirkby follow in fourth place with 295 points, and Chan and Gordon are in sixth with 233.

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Men’s doubles

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2022 Olympians DiGregorio, of Medway, Massachusetts, and Hollander, of Lake Placid, were ninth with a time of 1:23.476, while 2025 World Cup gold medalists Mueller of Brookfield, Wisconsin, and Haugsjaa, of Framingham, Massachusetts, followed in 10th place with a time of 1:23.639.

Germany’s Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt had the fastest split times across the board in both heats, taking the gold in 1:22.687. Teammates Toni Eggert and Florian Mueller were second in 1:22.941, and Austria’s Juri Gatt and Riccardo Schoepf were third in 1:23.076.

Wendl and Arlt remain the overall World Cup leaders with 466 points. Gatt and Schoepf are second with 384, with Latvia’s Martins Bots and Roberts Plume third with 362. Mueller and Haugsjaa are eighth with 247 points, and DiGregorio and Hollander are 11th with 231. Americans Dana Kellogg of Chesterfield, Massachusetts, and Frank Ike of Lititz, Pennsylvania, are 20th with 106. The duo is not currently with the team and is not expected to race again this season.

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Team relay

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Team USA just missed the podium in the relay, continuing to place no lower than fourth in the four races in which they’ve competed this season.

Farquharson, who was the strongest sled in Saturday’s women’s singles race, kicked off the team with the second fastest start. DiGregorio and Hollander were next and hit the paddle for Gustafson to race followed by Forgan and Kirkby. The team placed fourth with a time of 3:11.885.

Team Germany took the gold medal in 3:10.452, followed by Team Austria in second place with a time of 3:10.599. With the bronze medal was Team Latvia in 3:11.362.

Team Austria leads the World Cup overall with 440 points. In second is Team Germany with 355, and in third is Team Latvia with 340. Team USA did not compete in the first relay of the season and sits in fifth place with 260 points.

Opening ceremonies for the 2026 Winter Games in Milan-Cortina, Italy, are scheduled to be held on Feb. 6, with luge events beginning the next day.