World Cup Winterberg 24-25
Winterberg World Cup 24-25#
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Forgan and Kirkby seventh after setting start record
WINTERBERG, Germany—For the second time this season, Emily Sweeney stood on the World Cup podium after taking bronze on very fast ice. Track records fell in all three events held today.
The women’s doubles team of Chevonne Forgan and Sophia Kirkby placed seventh after breaking the start record they set last season. In men’s doubles, Marcus Mueller and Ansel Haugsjaa placed ninth.
Women’s singles
Two-time Olympian Sweeney (Lake Placid, N.Y.) sat in fifth place after the first heat of competition. With the strength of her second heat and the misfortune of a teammate, Sweeney moved up two spots to finish third in 1 minute, 49.922 seconds.
“This week was really tough in training,” said Sweeney, who won bronze here at the 2019 World Championships. “The track crew has done an incredible job with the track, but it’s a different track than normal. I really struggled to find a clean line but I’m happy with a third for sure.”
Sweeney will skip the next race in Oberhof, Germany, next week to prepare for the World Championships in Whistler, Canada, being held February 6-8.
After the first heat, 2022 Olympian Ashley Farquharson sat in third place, poised to take her first career World Cup medal in women’s singles. But a mistake at the start dropped her back to 15th place in 1:51.042.
Three-time Olympian Summer Britcher (Glen Rock, Pa.), with two consistent runs, placed eighth in 1:50.373.
Emma Erickson (Park City, Utah) was 23rd with a one run time of 55.743. Only the top 20 advance to the second heat.
The race was won by Julia Taubitz of Germany in 1:49.582, with Madeleine Egle of Austria second in 1:49.780.
Women’s doubles
Two-time World Championship medalists Forgan (Chelmsford, Mass.) and Kirkby (Lake Placid, N.Y.) had the fastest start time of both heats today, but slowly lost time throughout their two runs. They also had skids in each heat entering curve 14. The duo missed the podium for only the second time in the six races held this season. Their seventh-place time was 1:27.110.
In their third World Cup race together, Maya Chan (Chicago, Ill.) and Sophia Gordon (Sussex, Wisc.) placed eighth in 1:27.456. This was their second consecutive eighth-place result.
Selina Egle and Lara Kipp of Austria won for the fifth time in a row, finishing in 1:26.467. Germany’s Jessica Degenhardt and Cheyenne Rosenthal were second in 1:26.481. For the first time this season, the reigning World Cup champions, Andrea Voetter and Marion Oberhofer of Italy, stood on the podium. Their third-place time was 1:26.688.
Men’s doubles
Mueller (Brookfield, Wisc.) and Haugsjaa (Framingham, Mass.), the reigning Junior World Champions, were the top finishing U.S. sled in ninth place. The duo crossed the finish line in 1:25.582.
Their teammates and 2022 Olympians Zack DiGregorio (Medway, Mass.) and Sean Hollander (Lake Placid, N.Y.) were 17th with a one run time of 43.840. Only the top 16 sleds advance to the second heat.
Germany’s Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt became the most successful sled in men’s doubles history, with 55 career World Cup victories. Their time was 1:25.152. Austrians Juri Gatt and Riccardo Schoepf finished second in 1:25.286, with their teammates Yannick Mueller and Armin Frauscher third in 1:25.354.
World Cup standings
Sweeney is sixth in the women’s World Cup standings with 293 points, despite missing one event. Farquharson is ninth with 249 points and Britcher holds 11th with 240. Erickson is 20th with 115 points in her first year on the World Cup tour.
Egle leads with 444 points. Taubitz is second with 430 and Austrian Lisa Schulte is third with 415.
Forgan and Kirkby remain in third place with 426 points in women’s doubles. Chan and Gordon, in a truncated season, are 12th with 123 points. Egle and Kipp lead with 550 points, Degenhardt and Rosenthal are second with 475 points.
In men’s doubles, Mueller and Haugsjaa are ninth with 239 points. DiGregorio and Hollander are 11th with 211 points. Dana Kellogg and Frank Ike, out for the season with injury, are 23rd with 58 points.
Wendl and Arlt hold the lead with 475 points, in front of Latvians Martins Bots and Roberts Plume with 466 points. Toni Eggert and Florian Mueller of Germany are third with 396 points.
Racing resumes tomorrow with the men’s singles and team relay events. Every World Cup and World Championship race can be seen live at the FIL YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@FILLuge_Channel
