The U.S. men’s doubles team delivered a breakthrough performance on home ice Saturday afternoon at the Eberspacher Luge World Cup in Lake Placid, putting an American sled atop the standings and backing it up with multiple top-10 finishes in one of the tightest races of the season.

Marcus Mueller and Ansel Haugsjaa set the tone early, posting the fastest combined run of the competition to win in 43.766 seconds. The American pair was clean and composed through the technical lower section of Mount Van Hoevenberg. The result marked a major milestone for USA Luge, placing an American doubles team ahead of a field packed with Olympic and world champions.

"We are so proud that we made it down the run and were able to clinch our first World Cup victory in front of this great crowd.” Mueller said

Just 0.057 seconds back, Austria’s Yannick Mueller and Armin Frauscher took 2nd, while Latvia’s Martins Bots and Roberts Plume rounded out the podium in 3rd, only 0.085 seconds off the lead. The top four sleds were separated by less than a tenth of a second, highlighting the precision required on Lake Placid’s modernized Olympic track.

The Americans continued to stack results behind their win. Zachary Di Gregorio and Sean Hollander finished 8th, less than a quarter-second off the podium, after staying within striking distance through the middle splits. Dana Kellogg and Frank Ike followed closely in 9th, giving the U.S. three sleds inside the top nine and reinforcing the program’s growing depth in doubles.

The race also featured strong challenges from Italy’s Ivan Nagler and Fabian Malleier, who finished 4th, and Germany’s Toni Eggert and Florian Muller, who placed 5th. Fellow Germans Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt, the longtime standard-bearers in the discipline and holders of the Lake Placid track record, finished 6th after a blistering start that put them fastest through the early splits before losing time in the lower section.

The U.S. women delivered one of their strongest collective performances of the season Friday night, sweeping 2nd through 4th place in women’s singles and turning the home race into a showcase of American depth and momentum.

Ashley Farquharson led the U.S. charge with a silver-medal finish, just 0.132 seconds off the win. She was fastest in the opening run, topping nearly every split and carrying the lead into the final heat before settling into second overall with a combined time of 1:28.956. The result marked her best finish of the World Cup season so far and reinforced her growing consistency on one of the circuit’s most technical tracks.

"It feels great to be racing at my second home track and feels even better that I was able to be so fast. I'm really looking forward to a little Christmas break and then some more medals!" Farquharson said.

Right behind her, Summer Britcher added another podium to an already headline-making stretch. One week after winning the World Cup in Park City, Britcher backed it up with bronze in Lake Placid, finishing in 1:29.054. After ranking 6th in the first run, she produced one of the fastest second runs of the night, climbing the standings and confirming that her Park City victory was no outlier as the season gathers pace.

The American sweep nearly extended to the podium’s edge as Emily Fischnaller finished 4th, just 0.247 seconds behind the winner. Fischnaller was quickest to the finish in the opening run and remained firmly in medal contention through the second heat before slipping narrowly outside the top three. Her performance underscored the razor-thin margins on the Mount Van Hoevenberg track and capped a night in which three Americans occupied the top four positions.

The race was won by Germany’s Julia Taubitz, the reigning Olympic champion, who posted the fastest second run of the competition to claim victory in 1:28.824. Austria’s Lisa Schulte rounded out the top five, while Germany’s Merle Fraebel finished sixth as the European contenders struggled to match the Americans’ collective pace.

The women’s doubles race at Mount Van Hoevenberg delivered a statement performance, with Austria’s top team setting the standard while the U.S. pair turned the home stop into an emotional and podium-worthy moment.

Selina Egle and Lara Kipp were untouchable across both runs, opening the race by stopping the clock at 44.151 seconds — a new Lake Placid track record. Egle and Kipp backed it up with the fastest second run of the competition at 44.159, completing a wire-to-wire victory in 1:28.310.

“This is our first World Cup victory in Lake Placid,” Egle said after the race. “Both runs were very good.” On a track known for punishing even small mistakes, the Austrian duo combined clean exits with speed through the lower labyrinth to secure the win.

Germany’s Dajana Eitberger and Magdalena Matschina finished second, 0.284 seconds back, in their first Lake Placid World Cup together as a pairing. 

The strongest moment for the home crowd came from Chevonne Forgan and Sophia Kirkby, who earned bronze, finishing 0.809 seconds behind the leaders. The podium carried deep personal meaning for Kirkby, who became emotional at the finish line, reflecting on the fact that Lake Placid was the site of her last race attended by her late father two years earlier.

Germany’s Jessica Degenhardt and Cheyenne Rosenthal placed 4th, just ahead of the second U.S. sled of Maya Chan and Sophia Gordon, who finished 5th after leading the field in the first run before slipping back in the second. Italy’s Andrea Vötter and Marion Oberhofer rounded out the top six.

The Lake Placid Luge World Cup is the third of five races used for Olympic qualification for Milano Cortina 2026. Nations earn Olympic quota spots based on points from the Cortina test event and four designated pre-Olympic World Cups under FIL rules.

For Team USA, athletes can earn an Olympic nomination with one “A-tier” result (a top-five finish in a full World Cup field) or two “B-tier” results (top-half finishes). If those benchmarks are not met, cumulative points from the five races are used. USA Luge is expected to submit its Olympic nominees to the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee in mid-January 2026.