Forgan and Kirkby first women’s doubles team from U.S. to compete at Winter Games, Mueller and Haugsjaa place sixth

CORTINA d’AMPEZZO, Italy—It was a day for the USA Luge record books at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026, as Chevonne Forgan and Sophia Kirkby became the first U.S. women’s doubles sled to compete on Olympic ice while Marcus Mueller and Ansel Haugsjaa led the men’s doubles field going into the second run during a Winter Games, a feat not achieved for the U.S. until today. 

Women’s doubles

Forgan (Chelmsford, Mass.) and Kirkby (Lake Placid, N.Y.) were in fifth place following the first run and remained there to finish out the day. They clocked in with a time of one minute 47.565 seconds.

“I’m so excited to just be here and have this Olympic experience. I'm very proud to be representing Team USA,” said Kirkby. "I think that we are just one of the really cool teams out there on the circuit, and I'm really proud to just be one of the first women to compete in this sport ever. It’s an historic moment for women's sports.”

"We hope that we are paving the way for future generations of women to show women and girls coming up in luge, and outside of luge, in the Winter Olympics in general, that you can do any sport, you can do whatever you want,” said Forgan. "We’re hoping this really inspires the next generation. We’ll probably be competing against the next generation soon enough. It's just crazy that we're part of this first group.”

The gold medal went to Itay’s Andrea Voetter and Marion Oberhofer, who led the field across all splits during the two run race. They finished with a time of 1:46.284. Germany’s Dajana Eitberger and Magdalena Matschina took the silver in 1:46.404. The current track record holders, Austria’s Selina Egle and Lara Kipp, won the bronze in 1:46.543.

Men’s doubles

Mueller (Brookfield, Wisc.) and Haugsjaa (Framingham, Mass.) achieved a track record of 52.482 on their first run, placing them at the top of the leaderboard and in the USA Luge record books. After a fast start on the second run, they made a mistake and lost speed at the bottom end of the course. The duo finished in sixth place with a time of 1:45.293. 

"I'm still definitely happy. Sixth place is [still] huge, especially in our first Olympic Games,” said Mueller. “I’m definitely crushed. We were in medal position, so I’m crushed but still happy.”

“We more just wanted a result that we could feel good about,” said Haugsjaa. “We liked the runs and we felt like we gave it our all, and sadly, the runs weren't there. The speed was definitely there but we’ve got a lot to work on. We’ve been saying it for years that consistency is key. I think we know we need to find this consistency for ourselves, find this speed everywhere. It's not the last you're going see of us. We're going keep pushing.”

Two-time Olympians Zack DiGregorio (Medway, Mass.) and Sean Hollander (Lake Placid, N.Y.) were in eighth place following the first run and finished in eighth with a time of 1:45.467. Today was also Hollander’s birthday. 

"What a way to celebrate it competing in the Olympics,” said Hollander. “What are the odds that the Olympic doubles race lands on my birthday? I mean, it was the best way to spend it.”

"I think we were happy with the runs,” said DiGregorio. “We train hard. We train all four years getting ready for this one race and it's tough when you put down those two clean race rounds and you expect it to have a little bit more speed. But we didn't find that speed today, and that's alright. It’s part of the sport."

The gold medal went to Italy’s Emanuel Rieder and Simon Kainzwaldner with a time of 1:45.086. The silver medal went to Thomas Steu and Wolfgang Kindl of Austria in 1:45.154, and bronze to Germany’s Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt in 1:45.176.

The 2026 Winter Games luge competitions will conclude tomorrow with the team relay event. The race will air on NBC and USA Network, and stream live on Peacock and NBC Olympics platforms. All Olympic races can be replayed at NBC Olympics.