PyeongChang World Cup #
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Two U.S. mixed event teams place sixth
PYEONGCHANG, South Korea—Ashley Farquharson placed sixth in the women’s World Cup luge competition held at the 2018 Olympic sliding venue. She was the lone U.S. sled entered in the women’s race.
In the mixed doubles event, Zack DiGregorio - Sean Hollander and Chevonne Forgan - Sophia Kirkby finished sixth, as did the mixed singles team of Tucker West and Farquharson.
The mixed event features two sleds; a man and a woman or a men’s doubles sled and a women’s doubles sled. In the singles competition, the male athlete takes his run like a normal trip down the track, but instead of the clock stopping at the traditional finish line, he strikes a pad hanging over the track, which opens the gate for the female athlete. The clock stops when she strikes the pad at the bottom of the track. Doubles follow the same format.
Women's singles
2022 Olympian Farquharson (Park City, Utah), competing for the first time at the Alpensia Sliding Center, finished sixth in 1 minute, 33.380 seconds. This was her fourth top six finish of the season.
2024 World Champion Lisa Schulte of Austria won her first-ever World Cup with a two-run combined time of 1:32.923. Germany’s Merle Fraebel was second in 1:33.296. Hannah Prock of Austria, competing in her second race of the year after a long recovery from a back injury, was third in 1:33.300.
Mixed doubles
2022 Olympians DiGregorio (Medway, Mass.) - Hollander (Lake Placid, N.Y.) teamed with two-time World Championship medalists Forgan (Chelmsford, Mass.) - Kirkby (Lake Placid, N.Y.) to place sixth in 1:38.517.
The race was won by Germany 1 in 1:37.835, with Austria second in 1:38.037 and Germany 2 third in 1:38.162.
Mixed singles
Three-time Olympian West (Lake Placid, N.Y.) and Farquharson both had clean runs and clocked a combined time of 1:39.214 to place sixth. With a reduced team size for the final two World Cup events, the duo was the only U.S. entry in the competition.
The race was won by Austria 2, featuring Wolfgang Kindl and Lisa Schulte in 1:38.613. Kindl also won the men’s singles race and the doubles race with teammate Thomas Steu. He was also a member of the silver medal-winning team in the mixed doubles event. Germany 1 was second in 1:38.635 and Germany 2 was third in 1:38.887.
Overall World Cup standings
Farquharson is in seventh place with 345 points heading into the final event of the season next weekend as the only remaining U.S. women’s singles competitor. Emily Sweeney (Lake Placid, N.Y.) is currently ranked 11th and will finish the season with 293 points. Summer Britcher (Glen Rock, Pa.) is currently 13th with a final points tally of 266. Emma Erickson (Park City, Utah) will finish with 128 points and now sits in 23rd place.
Madeline Egle of Austria, Schulte, and Julia Taubitz of Germany have set up an exciting conclusion to the World Cup season. They have 590, 570 and 557 points, respectively, as the circuit travels to China for next weekend’s season finale.
The last of the nine-event FIL World Cup begins at the site of the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Yanqing, China, on Saturday, February 22. All races can be seen on the FIL YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@FILLuge_Channel.
