Winterberg World Cup 24-25#
9 photos
WINTERBERG, Germany—The United States placed fourth in the team relay event, closing out a weekend of racing in Winterberg. Team USA stood on the verge of a medal-winning finish, but a mistake in the most difficult section of the course cost them the podium.
In men’s singles, Jonny Gustafson was the top U.S. finisher in 20th place.
Team relay
Emily Sweeney (Lake Placid, N.Y.), who won the bronze in women’s singles yesterday, kicked things off for Team USA by posting the fastest time in the discipline. She hit the touch pad at the bottom of the track and opened the gate for Marcus Mueller (Brookfield, Wisc.) and Ansel Haugsjaa (Framingham, Mass.) who had the team in the bronze medal position until they flipped the sled off the final curve. In an impressive feat, the duo turned the sled back on its runners in time to strike the pad and open the gate Gustafson (Massena, N.Y.). He, and the women’s doubles team of Chevonne Forgan (Chelmsford, Mass.) and Sophia Kirkby (Lake Placid, N.Y.), kept the team in the top four. Their time was 3 minutes, 12.632 seconds.
In an upset on home ice, the Austrian squad won in 3:11.428 over the Germans, who posted a silver medal winning time of 3:11.519. Team Italy finished third in 3:12.008.
Men’s singles
2022 Olympian Gustafson was the top finishing U.S. athlete in 20th place with a time of 1:43.857 after a challenging race. His teammate, three-time Olympian Tucker West (Lake Placid, N.Y.) also struggled to find pace, finishing in 21st in 51.639. Only the top 20 athletes advance to take a second run. Aidan Mueller (West Islip, N.Y.), a member of the Junior National Team competing in the World Cup, was 26th in 52.045.
In yet another show of strength for the Austrian program, Jonas Mueller won the race and set a track record with a time of 1:41.742. Max Langenhan of Germany was second in 1:41.797 and Nico Gleirscher of Austria was third with a two-run combined time of 1:41.843.
Overall World Cup standings
The United States sits in sixth place in the overall World Cup relay standings with 185 points. Germany leads with 355 points, 10 more than Austria with 245. Latvia is third with 215 points.
In men’s singles, Gustafson is 11th with 187 points, West 15th with 162 and Aidan Mueller 27th with 75 points. Matt Greiner (Park City, Utah) is injured and did not race today. He holds 30th place with 52 points.
Langenhan and Gleirscher are tied for the lead with 456 points each. Felix Loch of Germany is third with 370.
World Cup action continues next week in Oberhof, Germany, for the final European race of the season. World Championships will be held in Whistler, Canada from February 6-8, followed by races in South Korea and China. All races can be seen on the FIL YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@FILLuge_Channel
