Gustafson ninth in men’s singles

INNSBRUCK/IGLS, Austria—In the final races before the 2024 World Championships, Team USA placed fourth in today’s EBERSPÄCHER Luge World Cup relay.

The United States squad consisted of 2022 Olympian Ashley Farquharson, Dana Kellogg/Frank Ike, 2022 Olympian Jonny Gustafson, and yesterday’s bronze medalists Chevonne Forgan/Sophie Kirkby. This was the first team relay for Kellogg/Ike.

Gustafson, who has been enjoying a career-best season, placed ninth.

Team relay

Farquharson (Park City, Utah), who was the first sled to hit the ice for the United States, continued her consistently strong sliding this season. After passing the traditional finish line, she hit the paddle hanging over the track, opening the gates for Kellogg (Chesterfield, Mass.)/Ike (Lititz, Pa.) in their first relay. The duo qualified to compete in the event for the U.S. with a career-best result the previous day. Gustafson (Massena, N.Y.) continued the work with a mistake-free run, and while the women’s doubles team of Forgan (Chelmsford, Mass.)/Kirkby (Ray Brook, N.Y.) had the strongest start, but the team effort fell short of the podium by just .187 seconds.

Team USA placed fourth with a time of two minutes 52.838 seconds.

The Austrian relay team, led by Madeleine Egle, Thomas Steu/Wolfgang Kindl, Jonas Mueller, and Selina Egle/Lara Kipp, won the race in front of a home crowd, crossing the finish in 2:52.190. The time also secured a track record.

The German relay team, led by Julia Taubitz, Tobias Wendl/Tobias Arlt, Max Langenhan and Jessica Degenhardt/Cheyenne Rosenthal took silver in 2:52.476. Verena Hofer, Emanuel Rieder/Simon Kainzwaldner, Dominik Fischnaller and Andrea Voetter/Marion Oberhofer gave Team Italy the bronze with a time of 2:52.651.

Team Germany is the overall World Cup leader with 285 points, and in second place is Team Austria with 270. Team USA is third with 200 points.

Men’s Singles

The ten-race winning streak for Germany’s Max Langenhan ended after Austria took the top two spots on the podium at their home track. The gold medal went to Jonas Mueller with a time of 1:38.655, and the silver to Nico Gleirscher in 1:38.981. Mueller also set a new track record on his first run with a time of 49.288. Langenhan took bronze in 1:39.083.

Gustafson placed ninth, with a time of 1:39.807, followed by teammate Tucker West (Ridgefield, Conn.) who landed in 14th with a time 1:40.209. Gustafson has finished in the top ten at every event this season. As usual, West was among the fastest starters in the field, with the fourth and second quickest start times of the competition, respectively.

Junior National Team member Matt Greiner (Park City, Utah) placed 27th with a time of 1:41.284, while Hunter Harris (East Fairfield, Vt.) followed in 28th in 1:41.349.

Langenhan remains the overall World Cup leader with 470 points, followed by Mueller with 380 in second place, and Gleirscher in third with 331. Gustafson is in ninth with 208, West in tenth with 190, Harris in 18th with 87, and Greiner in 30th with 37.

For more results on the 2023-2024 World Cup season, visit 

fil-luge.org/en/multimedia/eberspaecher-world-cup-31

EBERSPÄCHER Luge World Cup action will pause next weekend as the teams prepare for the World Championships in Altenberg, Germany on January 27-28, 2024. To live stream the races and to view archived competitions, please visit the FIL’s YouTube channel: 

https://www.youtube.com/@FILLuge_Channel. The entire World Cup and World Championship season can be accessed from this portal.

Team USA fourth in Igls World Cup relay

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