Farquharson leads U.S. women after two runs at the 2026 Winter Games

CORTINA d’AMPEZZO, Italy—The Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 continued today with the first two runs of a four-run race for the women’s singles. Two-time Olympian Ashley Farquharson is currently the leading U.S. sled in fifth place with a time of one minute 45.796 seconds. 

Farquharson (Park City, Utah) was in fourth after the first heat but some mistakes in her second run bumped her into fifth place to finish the first day. Today’s competition came just one day after Emily Fischnaller (Lake Placid, N.Y.) celebrated the bronze medal of her husband, Dominik Fischnaller of Italy. She is eighth with a time of 1:45.872, and Summer Britcher (Glen Rock, Pa.) is 12th in 1:46.614.

“I'm feeling good,” said Farquharson. "I'm happy with the speed, and I'm happy about my composure on the sled, but I know that I was a little stiff and I left some time out there for sure. But if anything, I proved to myself that I can make small mistakes here and there and still be really fast. So my plan tomorrow is to just let it all go and try to really let it fly.”

"Clearly, I haven't quite figured out the first two curves yet,” said Fischnaller. “It's good to have a little tricky section in there, but as soon as I get into curve six, I just fully enjoy sliding here. It's such a fun track to slide on.”

"I really like track here, it's a ton of fun,” said Britcher. “For me, it's just been a battle. I'm sticking with my training mentally to stay in a good headspace, stay positive, stay excited, just compete and race. And that was put to the test today when I made a big mistake about three seconds into my run. But I came here to bring the best of my abilities and sometimes that means putting it on the line. That’s racing, and I'm looking forward tomorrow and a new day.”

2025 World Champion Julia Taubitz of Germany is in the lead with a time of 1:45.188, and a new track record on her second run in 52.550. Just .061 behind Taubitz is teammate Merle Fraebel in 1:45.249, with Elina Bota of Latvia third in 1:45.683

The 2026 Winter Games women’s singles competition concludes tomorrow, February 10, with the men’s and women’s doubles on February 11, and the team relay on February 12.

All races will air on NBC and USA Network, and stream live on Peacock and NBC Olympics platforms. Race and training results can be seen here.

Quotes from doubles training

The men's and women's doubles teams both hit the ice on February 9. February 10 will be their last training session before racing begins on February 11. Unlike the singles event which take place over four heats and two days, doubles is contested over two runs, both taken in one day.

"It’s going great here in Cortina. It's so beautiful. I'm having so much fun It's really an unreal experience. The track feels amazing. Our training runs haven't been perfect, but we're having a lot of fun and working to get those problems clean and fixed for race day." - Chevonne Forgan

"The first two runs have been good, figuring out all the little quirks of the track. It's built a little different than it was for training, but it feels like it's in the right direction for us, so we found speed, and now we just need to make sure we get two clean runs." - Zack DiGregorio

"We’re feeling good. We're happy. I mean, we like the track. It feels like it's in a good spot. And yeah, like Zach says, it's just about putting two runs together." Sean Hollander

"I’m feeling pretty good. We have a couple things to work on, but we have two more runs and excited for race day." - Marcus Mueller