PyeongChang World Cup #
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PYEONGCHANG, South Korea—The World Cup circuit returned to the site of the 2018 Olympic track for the first time in seven years, with the U.S sending a reduced team to Asia for the final two weekends of the season.
Chevonne Forgan and Sophia Kirkby led Team USA, placing fourth in women’s doubles. Earlier in the day during the Nation’s Cup qualifying race, Tucker West secured a new start record.
Women’s doubles
Forgan (Chelmsford, Mass.) and Kirkby (Lake Placid, N.Y.), the only women’s doubles team representing the United States, set a start record. This achievement marked the first start record for the discipline recorded on the PyeongChang track. With the fastest starts in both heats, the duo finished a strong fourth place with a time of 1 minute 34.238 seconds.
Germany’s Jessica Degenhardt and Cheyenne Rosenthal took the gold in 1:33.618, followed by 2025 World Champions Selina Egle and Lara Kipp of Austria in second in 1:33.641. Dajana Eitberger and Magdalena Matschina of Germany were third in 1:34.013.
With six World Cup gold medals this season, Egle/Kipp are the overall leaders with 735 points. Degenhardt/Rosenthal are second with 660, and Forgan/Kirkby are third with 541. Team USA’s Maya Chan (Chicago, Ill.) and Sophia Gordon (Sussex, Wisc.), who competed in select events this season, are 12th with 165.
Men’s doubles
2022 Olympians Zack DiGregorio and Sean Hollander are representing the U.S. in Asia, as teammates Marcus Mueller and Ansel Haugsjaa are currently with the Junior National Team in Oberhof, Germany. Yesterday, Mueller (Brookfield, Wisc.) and Haugsjaa (Framingham, Mass.) won the Junior World Cup race.
DiGregorio (Medway, Mass.) and Hollander (Lake Placid, N.Y.) placed seventh in today’s race with a time of 1:33.235.
The gold medal went to Austria’s Thomas Steu and Wolfgang Kindl with a time of 1:32.578. The Germans completed with the podium with Toni Eggert and Florian Mueller in second in 1:32.580, and Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt third in 1:32.680.
Wendl/Arlt lead the overall points with 645, Steu/Kindl are second with 560, and Latvia’s Martins Bots and Roberts Plume are third with 556. DiGregorio/Hollander are in ninth with 291, and Mueller/Haugsjaa are 11th with 281. Americans Dana Kellogg (Chesterfield, Mass.) and Frank Ike (Lititz, Pa.), who left the circuit due to injury earlier in the season, are 24th with 58 points.
Men’s singles
Like many sleds in the discipline, curve nine presented challenges, including for West (Lake Placid, N.Y.). The three-time Olympian was the start leader in both heats but hit the wall entering curve nine on the second run, resulting in a 12th place finish in 1:36.668.
2022 Olympian Gustafson (Massena, N.Y.) was consistent in both runs, but an issue toward the end of the second heat cost him time. He finished the day in 13th place with a time of 1:36.722.
Austria’s Wolfgang Kindl was first in 1:35.422, followed by Dominik Fischnaller of Italy in second in 1:35.514. Latvia’s Kristers Aparjods took the bronze in 1:35.533.
Despite placing fifth in today’s race, Germany’s Max Langenhan remains the overall World Cup leader with 616 points. Nico Gleirscher of Austria is second with 558, and Germany’s Felix Loch is third with 505. Gustafson is 11th and West is in 12th, with 240 and 230 points, respectively. Americans who competed during the World Cup season, but are not in Asia, include Aidan Mueller (West Islip, N.Y) who is in 28th place with 85 points, Matt Greiner (Park City, Utah) is 33rd with 52, and Hunter Harris (East Fairfield, Vt.) is 37th with 35 points.
World Cup racing continues in PyeongChang tomorrow with the women’s singles and mixed events. The season finale is next weekend in Yanqing, China. All races can be seen on the FIL YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@FILLuge_Channel
