Emily Sweeney takes bronze in Sigulda World Cup Sprint race, places second in Sprint World Cup overall for season

SIGULDA, Latvia—Emily Sweeney stood on the podium during today’s Eberspaecher World Cup in Sigulda, clenching the bronze medal in the women’s sprint race and placing second overall in sprint for the season.  

Sweeney’s teammates, Tucker West, Zack DiGregorio/Sean Hollander, Dana Kellogg/Frank Ike, and Chevonne Forgan/Sophia Kirkby all placed in the top ten in their respective disciplines in the sprint.  

Sprint Women’s Singles 

Three-time Olympian Sweeney (Lake Placid, N.Y.) brought home the second sprint medal of the season for Team USA in women’s singles. Summer Britcher won the bronze medal at the 2023 Lake Placid Sprint World Cup race.  

Sweeney has been among the fastest sliders all week but has battled with consistency. Today she threw down a solid run, ranking among the best in the world. She took the bronze medal with a time of 30.858 seconds and secured a second-place finish in the overall sprint World Cup. 

2022 Olympian Ashley Farquharson was in medal contention but tapped the wall coming out of curve 15. Farquharson (Park City, Utah) finished in eighth place in 30.946. Britcher (Glen Rock, Pa.) did not compete due to injury but is expected to race in the World Cup finale next weekend. 

2024 Sprint World Champion Julia Taubitz of Germany stood atop the podium, taking gold with a time of 30.652, and secured a new track record, as would be the case in all four sprint disciplines. She clinched the overall Sprint World Cup followed by Latvia’s Kendija Aparjode in second with 30.760, and Sweeney in third. 

With a perfect sprint season, Taubitz earned the crystal globe with 300 points. Sweeney placed second with 190 points, and Aparjode was third with 186. Farquharson placed fifth with 166 points, and Britcher is 14thwith 85 points.

Sprint Women’s Doubles

2024 World Championships bronze medalists Forgan/Kirkby battled minor mistakes but maintained clean lines for a solid finish. Forgan (Chelmsford, Mass.)/Kirkby (Ray Brook, N.Y.) placed fifth with a time of 31.485. 

“We were definitely working pretty hard for those lines on this run, and we had a bit of a tough week so I’m just happy to make it across the finish line and have a relatively clean run today,” said Forgan during an interview following the race on FIL Studio. “It’s the last week of the season so it’s fun because you are getting your last World Cup runs in and I think that will carry us.”

“This is such a technical track and you’re definitely working,” added Kirkby. “As a bottom woman (on the sled), this is definitely the track that I work the most on.”

Italy’s Andrea Voetter/Marion Oberhofer placed first with a time of 31.187. Austria’s Selina Egle/Lara Kipp took the silver in 31.261, with Germany’s Dajana Eitberger/Saskia Schirmer in third in 31.335. 2024 World Champions Jessica Degenhardt/Cheyenne Rosenthal hit the wall into curve 13, resulting in a crash. They did not finish and walked away from the track.

2024 Sprint World Champions Egle/Kipp took the crystal globe for the second consecutive season with 285 overall points, followed by Voetter/Oberhofer in second with 230, and Eitberger/Schirmer in third with 225. Forgan/Kirkby finished fourth with 195 points, and teammates Maya Chan (Chicago, Ill.)/Reannyn Weiler (Whitesboro, N.Y.) placed eighth with 96. 

Sprint Men’s Doubles

2024 Lake Placid World Cup gold medalists DiGregorio (Medway, Mass.)/Hollander (Lake Placid, N.Y.) lost speed at the start but had a clean run. They finished the day in sixth place in 30.907. Teammates Dana Kellogg (Chesterfield, Mass.)/Frank Ike (Lititz, Pa.) made some minor mistakes in the heat and placed tenth in 31.158. 

Latvia’s Martins Bots/Roberts Plume took the gold with a time of 30.714 in front of a home crowd. Germany’s Tobias Wendl/Tobias Arlt placed second in 30.801, and Italy’s Emanuel Rieder/Simon Kainzwaldner took their second bronze medal of the season in 30.843. 

2024 Sprint World Champions Bots/Plume placed first overall with 246 points, followed by a tie for second place between Wendl/Arlt and Austria’s Thomas Steu/Wolfgang Kindl with 225. DiGregorio/Hollander finished in eighth with 134, and Kellogg/Ike followed in ninth with 98 points.

Sprint Men’s Singles

The track was challenging for the U.S. men today as both athletes had trouble on curve 14. Three-time Olympian West tapped the wall in the curve which slowed his speed. West (Ridgefield, Conn.) finished ninth with a time of 27.637. Teammate Jonny Gustafson (Messina, N.Y.) went high in 14, and landed in 12thplace with a time of 27.705. 

Three-time Olympic gold medalistFelix Loch of Germany won his fifth career World Cup sprint race with a time of 27.223. Latvia’s Kristers Aparjods placed second in front of a home crowd in 27.290, and Austria’s David Gleirscher was third with 27.325. For the first time this season, Max Langenhan of Germany did not stand on the podium.

As Langenhan won two of the three sprint races this season and finished fourth today, he took the crystal globe with 260 points, followed by teammate Loch in second with 245. Aparjods was third with 181. West finished in ninth with 105 points and Gustafson in 12thwith 71.

Men’s Singles

2022 Olympian Gustafson led the U.S. men today and was the first athlete of the seeded group to take the ice. He had issues in curve 13 and hit the wall in curve 14. He placed 12thwith a time of 1:37.002.

West has strong, consistent runs today, including the fastest start time in the second heat. Although he was quick at the start, he had an issue in curve 15 which affected the time of his two combined runs. He finished the day in 13thplace with a time of 1:37.033. 

U.S. teammate Hunter Harris (East Fairfield, Vt.) did not compete and finished his season last weekend. In a social media post, Harris said: “After a couple of bad crashes in training, I’m sad to say that my season ends here in Sigulda due to injury. This season has been one of the hardest yet, but also the most fun. I learned so much this year, and after getting my feet wet in the senior circuit, I’m more motivated than ever to be at the top level in the years to come. I’m going to hit the off-season hard, and I will come back as competitive as I can.”

Loch won his second race of the season, clinching the gold in 1:35.650 and his 51stWorld Cup career victory. The hometown favorite Aparjods came in second in 1:35.709, followed by Langenhan in third in 1:35.962.

Langenhan clinched the crystal globe following his six victories this season. He has 970 points going into next weekend’s finale and cannot be overtaken. Aparjods is second with 741 points, and Austria’s Jonas Mueller is third with 681. West is in ninth with 411 points, followed by Gustafson in tenth with 362, and Harris in 22nd with 148. 

The 2023-2024 Luge World Cup season finale is next weekend, March 1-2 from Sigulda, Latvia. To live stream the races and to view archived competitions, please visit the FIL’s YouTube channel: fil-luge.org/en/multimedia/eberspaecher-world-cup-33https://www.youtube.com/@FILLuge_Channel. The entire World Cup and World Championship season can be accessed from this portal.