Men's Day One: Gustafson 11th, Greiner 17th going into the final two runs

CORTINA d’AMPEZZO, Italy—Following last evening’s Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 Opening Ceremony, USA Luge athletes hit the ice for the first day of sliding at the brand-new Cortina Sliding Center, named in honor of bobsled legend Eugenio Monti.

Men’s singles were the first discipline to race, with Jonny Gustafson and Matt Greiner representing the U.S. Unlike the World Cup, which features two heats to determine the winner, the Winter Games consists of four heats. Two of the four runs took place today, with the third and final runs tomorrow.

Two-time Olympian Gustafson (Massena, N.Y.), was in 11th place following the first heat and remains in the same spot going into tomorrow’s competition. After the first two runs, he clocked a time of one minute 47.301 seconds.

Teammate and 2026 Olympian Greiner (Park City, Utah) was in 15th going into the second run of the day and fell to 17th with a time of 1:47.760.

“I’ve never felt this way in my life, every day this week has been the biggest day of my life, and it just keeps coming,” said Greiner. “The feelings I felt after the first run I was overcome with emotion to see my parents here and my friends are here, this is incredible. First run was sketchy in some ways, second run was sketchy in some more ways, third run is going to be good.”

“The track is great, it’s holding up really well and the track crew has done such a great job, it’s just so smooth. It’s fun new track and so it’s always fun to slide on it,” said Gustafson. “The second run today was a little rough and I definitely had some mistakes in there but I’d be a fool if I thought I was going to have four perfect runs at the Olympics so just looking ahead to tomorrow and hopefully going to have two better runs and just push from there."

Germany’s Max Langenhan is the current leader with a time of 1:45.826. He also set a track record of 52.902 on his second run. Jonas Mueller of Austria is in second with a time of 1:45.988, with Italy’s Dominik Fischnaller third in 1:46.124.

The final two runs in men’s singles will be held tomorrow, February 8, at 5 p.m. local time, 11 a.m. EST. Women’s singles will be held on Monday, February 9-10, with the men’s and women’s doubles on Wednesday, February 11. Team relay will complete the 2026 Winter Games luge competition on Thursday, February 12.

EXTRA: Earlier in the day, women's training took place. Emily Fischnaller commented on life away from the track and her outlook: "I’m enjoying the vibes. I was walking through the village this morning and walked past a British man who said you’re looking quite cheerful!"

Emily was 5th, Summer ritcher was 6th Ashley Farquharson was 14th on the final run of the day. This was an improvement over the previous, whic saw Emily 11th, Ashley 12th and , Summer 14th. Julia Taubitz of Germany was fastest both runs.

All races will air on NBC and USA Network, and stream live on Peacock and NBC Olympics platforms.