Ashley Farquharson, Tucker West, Eitberger/Schirmer, and Steu/Kindl the fastest at the first FIL Nations Cup in Lake Placid

Lake Placid (FIL/07 Dec 2023) Ashley Farquharson (USA), Tucker West (USA), Dajana Eitberger / Saskia Schirmer (GER), and Thomas Steu / Wolfgang Kindl (AUT) secured victories at the inaugural FIL Nations Cup of the 2023/2024 season on Thursday, December 7, 2023, at the Lake Placid ice track (USA). In chilly conditions with temperatures below zero Celsius or around 16 degrees Fahrenheit, the first World Cup qualification unfolded at the foot of Mount Van Hoevenberg starting at 10 am.

In the women's event, US athlete Ashley Farquharson claimed victory with a commanding time of 44.242 seconds, leading ahead of Canada's Trinity Ellis (+0.094) and local favorite Summer Britcher (+0.235). Farquharson, a 24-year-old student, finished nearly a tenth of a second ahead of her North American colleagues. A total of 17 women's singles competed in the first FIL Nations Cup of the season to earn a spot in the EBERSPAECHER World Cup on December 9. Winner Farquharson was delighted to start the new season with a win: "It's fantastic to start the weekend with a win, even though the middle part of my run wasn't really good. It was much colder today than in the last few days and it's supposed to get warmer again for the World Cup on Saturday."

25-year-old Brittney Arndt from Park City contested the last international race of her career with a very emotional run. In the end, Arndt, who had already achieved a World Cup podium in 2022/23 season, finished in seventh place.

In the men's race, 28-year-old local hero Tucker West was the fastest of the 15 starters. With a time of 51.124 seconds, the three-time Olympian from Lake Placid won ahead of his 26-year-old teammate Jonathan Gustafson (+0.364). Alexander Ferlazzo from Australia has also competed in three Winter Olympics and showed once again that he is a strong athlete who learned to luge in Lake Placid. Just one hundredth of a second (+0.365) slower than Gustafson, the Australian finished in third place. "Starting the season with a win was very important for me after the long summer break. I prepared well athletically and now I know that I can still do it on the track. My run today was quite good. I'm happy with that. I was too slow at the start today. I still don't know exactly what was going on. It will really count in the World Cup tomorrow. I'm looking forward to it and will give it my all," said the winner West.

Four-time Olympian and 2018 Olympic silver medalist Chris Mazdzer (USA) narrowly missed out on the podium and qualified for the last World Cup of his 22-year career in international luge with fourth place at his last Nations Cup. Mazdzer announced on Monday, December 4, 2023 that the EBERSPAECHER Luge World Cup, which takes place on December 8 and 9 in Lake Placid, will be his last.

While it was a North American day on the ice track at Mount Van Hoevenberg in the singles, the doubles were dominated by newcomer victories. Three women's and eight men's duos competed in the Nations Cup doubles. Dajana Eitberger (GER), silver medalist in the singles at the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics, took part in her first international competition after switching to doubles. Together with 19-year-old Saskia Schirmer, the 32-year-old sports soldier Eitberger was the fastest with a time of 44.425 seconds. More than a second behind them, the Ukrainians Olena Stetskiv and Oleksandra Mokh finished second and the young Czechs Anna Cezikova and Lucie Jansova third.

In the men's doubles, the newly formed duo of Thomas Steu and Wolfgang Kindl also made their international debut with a victory in the first Nations Cup of the season. With a time of 43.803 seconds, the Austrian duo secured Nations Cup gold. After Lorenz Koller, who won two medals together with his doubles partner Thomas Steu at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing (bronze in the doubles and silver with the team relay), ended his active luge career, Thomas Steu from Vorarlberg will compete together with Tyrolean Wolfgang Kindl from this winter. Former world champion and Olympic silver medallist Kindl from Tyrol will compete in the single and doubles.

"It's definitely cool. We are starting a new season with our first international competition together and a win straight away. It feels good and luge is definitely a lot of fun," said bronze medal winner from Beijing 2023 Thomas Steu. His new doubles partner Wolfgang Kindl added: "We had better runs in training, but the ice was much colder and faster for the competition. In principle, it's fun on the doubles and today was nice weather for sledding. We're looking forward to what the season will bring."

In the men's doubles, two duos from Italy were on the podium: Ivan Nagler and Fabian Malleier (+0.364) and Ludwig Rieder, who was competing together with Lukas Gufler (+0.373) for the first time.

Schedule & TV broadcasts

1st EBERSPAECHER Luge World Cup, Lake Placid (USA)
Local start time (CET/MEZ)

Thursday, December 07, 2023
14:00 (20:00) Training seeded group

Friday, December 08, 2023
09:00 (15:00) Men's doubles, 1st run
09:48 (15:48) Women's doubles, 1st run
10:45 (16:45) Men's doubles, 2nd heat
11:37 (17:37) Women's doubles, 2nd heat
12:40 (18:40) Men, 1st heat
14:10 (20:10) Men, 2nd heat

Saturday, December 09, 2023

09:30 (15:30) Women, 1st run
10:50 am (16:50) Women, 2nd run

12:15 (18:15) Men's sprint
13:00 (19:00) Women's doubles sprint
13:29 (19:29) Sprint men doubles
14:05 (20:05) Women's sprint

Information on the live TV broadcast: fil-luge.org/en/multimedia/eberspaecher-world-cup-26

FIL YouTube Livestream: https://www.youtube.com/@FILLuge_Channel