USA Luge Start Championships

USA Luge’s top athletes will put their explosive power to the test Friday, Oct. 16, when the annual USA Luge Start Championships return to the organization’s refrigerated indoor start training facility in Lake Placid. The competition begins at 6 p.m. at USA Luge headquarters, 57 Church St. The event is free and open to the public.

Headlining the field is 2026 Olympic bronze medalist Ashley Farquharson (Park City, Utah), who will compete in women’s singles. Farquharson earned her first Olympic medal in February at the Milano Cortina Winter Games.

The men’s doubles competition will feature, among others, two 2026 Olympic sleds: Marcus Mueller (Brookfield, Wisc.) and Ansel Haugsjaa (Framingham, Mass.), along with Zack DiGregorio (Medway, Mass.) and Sean Hollander (Lake Placid, N.Y.).

Mueller and Haugsjaa made their Olympic debut in 2026 after a breakout 2025-26 season that included a World Cup victory in Lake Placid. DiGregorio and Hollander are two-time Olympians and World Cup race winners.

In men’s singles, Olympians Jonny Gustafson (Massena, N.Y.) and Matt Greiner (Park City, Utah) will be among the athletes battling for the title. Gustafson competed in his second Olympic Winter Games in 2026, while Greiner made his Olympic debut in Cortina.

Olympians Chevonne Forgan (Chelmsford, Mass.) and Sophia Kirkby (Lake Placid, N.Y.) will compete in women’s doubles. The pair are World Championship medalists and represented the United States at the 2026 Olympic Winter Games.

Members of the USA Luge Junior National Team will also compete, giving spectators an opportunity to see both established Olympians and some of the nation’s top young luge athletes.

The competition will have a different look this year following the retirement of Tucker West (Lake Placid, N.Y.), the most successful athlete in the history of the USA Luge Start Championships. West, a three-time Olympian and three-time World Cup winner, retired with a record 13 start championship titles.

Also absent from the competition will be four-time Olympian Summer Britcher (Glen Rock, Pa.), who is recovering from an injury. Three-time Olympian Emily Fischnaller (Lake Placid, N.Y.), formerly Emily Sweeney, will not compete.

The annual event tests one of the most important elements of luge racing — the start. Athletes use the same explosive paddling motion they employ at the top of a luge track, accelerating themselves and their sleds down USA Luge’s indoor refrigerated ramps. With races routinely decided by hundredths and even thousandths of a second, a fast start can be critical to success on the international stage.

The Start Championships traditionally serve as an unofficial kickoff to the competitive season and give local fans a close-up look at the strength, speed and precision required to compete in luge at the highest level.