USA Luge finishes in top ten across all races at Oberhof World Cup

OBERHOF, Germany—As the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 are just weeks away, today’s races at the LOTTO Thüringen Eisarena Oberhof track proved the Americans are strong contenders with all teams placing in the top ten in their respective disciplines on this World Luge Day.

Women’s doubles

Two-time World Championship medalists Chevonne Forgan (Chelmsford, Mass.) and Sophia Kirkby (Lake Placid, N.Y.) began each race with the second fastest start time, but slowly lost speed down the course. They finished in fourth place with a time of one minute 24.645 seconds.
Maya Chan (Chicago, Ill.) and Sophia Gordon (Sussex, Wisc.) were ninth with a time of 1:25.625.

The gold medal went to Germany’s Jessica Degenhardt and Cheyenne Rosenthal in 1:23.956 Austria’s Selina Egle and Lara Kipp took silver in 1:24.137, and in third were Dajana Eitberger and Magdalena Matschina of Germany in 1:24.288. 

In overall World Cup standings, Egle and Kipp are the leaders with 540 points, Eitberger and Matschina are second with 480, and Degenhardt and Rosenthal are third with 430. Forgan and Kirkby follow in fourth place with 295 points, and Chan and Gordon are in sixth with 233.

Men’s doubles

2022 Olympians DiGregorio (Medway, Mass.) and Hollander (Lake Placid, N.Y.) were ninth with a time of 1:23.476, while 2025 World Cup gold medalists Mueller (Brookfield, Wisc.) and Haugsjaa (Framingham, Mass.) followed in tenth place with a time of 1:23.639.

Germany’s Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt had the fastest split times across the board in both heats, taking the gold in 1:22.687. Teammates Toni Eggert and Florian Mueller were second in 1:22.941, and Austria’s Juri Gatt and Riccardo Schoepf were third in 1:23.076.

Wendl and Arlt remain the overall World Cup leaders with 466 points. Gatt and Schoepf are second with 384, with Latvia’s Martins Bots and Roberts Plume third with 362. Mueller and Haugsjaa are eighth with 247 points, and DiGregorio and Hollander are 11th with 231. Americans Dana Kellogg (Chesterfield, Mass.) and Frank Ike (Lititz, Pa.) are 20th with 106. The duo is not currently with the team and not expected to race again this season.

Team Relay

Team USA just missed the podium in the relay, continuing to place no lower than fourth in the four races in which they've competed this season.
2022 Olympian Ashley Farquharson (Park City, Utah), who was the strongest sled in yesterday’s women’s singles race, kicked off the team with the second fastest start. DiGregorio and Hollander were next and hit the paddle for 2022 Olympian Jonny Gustafson to race followed by Forgan and Kirkby. The team placed fourth with a time of 3:11.885.

Team Germany took the gold medal in 3:10.452, followed by Team Austria in second place with a time of 3:10.599. With the bronze medal was Team Latvia in 3:11.362.

Team Austria leads the World Cup overall with 440 points. In second is Team Germany with 355, and in third is Team Latvia with 340. Team USA did not compete in the first relay of the season and sit in fifth place with 260 points.

Opening ceremonies for the 2026 Winter Games in Milan-Cortina, Italy, are scheduled to be held February 6, 2026, with luge events beginning the next day.
World Cup racing continues in Oberhof next weekend, January 24-25, before the circuit breaks for the 2026 Winter Games. All World Cup races can be seen live on the FIL YouTube page, Max and Discovery+. Weekly highlight shows are also available on the NBC Sports YouTube channel.