Oberhof World Cup 2 2024-25#
6 photos
OBERHOF, Germany—Chevonne Forgan and Sophia Kirkby placed fifth under warm conditions in the Thuringia region of Germany. The duo has placed in the top five at every women’s doubles event this season.
Ashley Farquharson was the top finishing U.S. athlete in women’s singles in seventh place, and the men’s doubles team of Marcus Mueller and Ansel Haugsjaa led the U.S. placing eighth.
Despite the warm temperatures, track record and start records were set in all three disciplines.
Women’s doubles
Forgan (Chelmsford, Mass.) and Kirkby (Lake Placid, N.Y.) posted a two-run combined time of 1 minute, 24.897 seconds. The pair were largely mistake-free but lost time throughout the course. Maya Chan (Chicago, Ill.) and Sophia Gordon (Sussex, Wisc.), competing in select events this season, placed eighth in 1:25.943.
Selina Egle and Lara Kipp of Austria won their sixth consecutive race with a time of 1:24.135. Jessica Degenhardt and Cheyenne Rosenthal of Germany took second place in 1:24.235, with their teammates Dajana Eitberger and Magdalena Matschina third in 1:24.613.
Women’s singles
2022 Olympian Farquharson (Park City, Utah) was seventh in 1:23.675, gaining speed at each split time down the track. Three-time Olympian Summer Britcher (Glen Rock, Pa.) was 15th in 1:24.220 and posted the ninth fastest run in the second heat. Emma Erickson (Park City, Utah) was 28th with a one-run time of 42.978. Only the top 20 sleds advance to the second heat.
Emily Sweeney (Lake Placid, N.Y.) took this week off to prepare for the World Championships in Whistler taking place February 6-8, 2025.
It was a good day for the Egle sisters. After her sister, Selina, won the doubles competition with Kipp, Madeleine stood atop the podium with a new track record in her first run and a combined time of 1:23.117. Julia Taubitz of Germany was second in 1:23.230. Natalie Maag of Switzerland was third in 1:23.360.
The Austrian sisters have ten wins between them this season: Selina with six and Madeleine with four.
Men’s doubles
The 2024 Junior World Champions Mueller (Brookfield, Wisc.) and Haugsjaa (Framingham, Mass.) were eighth with a time of 1:23.557. Teammates and 2022 Olympians Zack DiGregorio (Medway, Mass.) and Sean Hollander (Lake Placid, N.Y.) dropped three spots in the second heat after having problems going into curves 12 and 13 of the track. They finished the day in 12th in 1:23.766.
Germany’s Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt nudged teammates Hannes Orlamuender and Paul Gubitz from the top spot with just .06 separating first and second place. Wendl and Arlt took home their record 56th race with a time of 1:22.808. Teammates Orlamuender and Gubitz took silver in 1:22.876. Austrians Thomas Steu and Wolfgang Kindl were third in 1:23.046.
World Cup overall standings
Egle and Kipp retain the overall World Cup lead with 650 points, 90 more than Degenhardt and Rosenthal’s 560. Forgan and Kirkby are third with 481 points. Chan and Gordon have 165 points in 12th place.
In women’s singles, Farquharson sits in eighth place with 295 points. Sweeney is ninth with 293 points, Britcher is 11th with 266 and Erickson is 22nd with 128.
Egle leads with 544 points, Taubitz is second with 515, and Austria’s Lisa Schulte is third with 470.
In men’s doubles, Mueller and Haugsjaa are ninth with 281 points. DiGregorio and Hollander move up one spot to tenth with 245 points. Dana Kellogg and Frank Ike, out for the season with injury, are 24th with 58 points.
Wendl and Arlt lead the overall points with 575. Latvia’s Martins Bots and Roberts Plume are second with 526, and Austria’s Thomas Steu and Wolfgang Kindl are third with 460 points.
The final European leg of the World Cup season concludes tomorrow with men’s singles and the mixed events. World Cup racing pauses next weekend as the circuit moves to North America for the 53rd FIL World Championships in Whistler, Canada, from February 6-8. All races can be seen on the FIL YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@FILLuge_Channel