2025/2026 Olympic ice season opens – First training runs in Lillehammer and Sigulda

Lillehammer/Sigulda (FIL/October 2, 2025) The starting signal for the 2025/2026 Olympic luge season has been given. On October 1, the national teams from Latvia, Italy, Austria, and Canada successfully completed their first training runs on ice at the 1994 Olympic track in Lillehammer, Norway.
This marks the start of an intensive preparation phase for the top athletes ahead of the World Cup season and the highlight of their four-year plan – the Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics.

Sleds are also already on the ice in Sigulda (Latvia), where the Ukrainian national team is currently preparing at ice start training.

At the same time, the US national team is completing its ice start training in Lake Placid (USA). In the coming days, other national teams will also complete their first runs on ice.

“The first training session on ice is always a special moment for all athletes,” says FIL Sports Director Matthias Böhmer. “Now we can see what has been achieved over the summer in terms of strength, technique, and equipment – and how the teams are starting the long season leading up to the Olympics.”

The Olympic track in Lillehammer, venue of the 1994 Winter Games, is considered a technically demanding track. With a length of 1,710 meters, 16 curves, and a 112-meter elevation difference, it offers ideal conditions for preparing the athletes for the tasks ahead.

The ice season is now officially open – the first international races in the EBERSPÄCHER Luge World Cup 2025/2026 will follow in the first week of December 2025.

Photos: Mareks Galinovskis