Emily Fischnaller, Rinks, Robezniece/Bogdanova, and Rieder/Kainzwaldner triumph at the 4th Nations Cup in Sigulda

4th FIL Nations Cup 2026 in Sigulda

Sigulda (FIL/01/02/2026) To kick off the 2026 Olympic year, the FIL Nations Cup took place on January 2 at the only artificial ice track in the Baltic States, in Sigulda, Latvia. The event, which serves as a qualifying race for the EBERSPAECHER World Cup on the following two days, produced some exciting runs. In the end, Emily Fischnaller (USA) and Kaspars Rinks (LAT) triumphed in the singles, while Marta Robezniece/Kitija Bogdanova (LAT) won the doubles for the women and Emanuel Rieder/Simon Kainzwaldner (ITA) for the men.

Local hero Rinks fastest in the men's event

23-year-old Kaspars Rinks delivered a strong and consistent run in his home race, taking victory with a time of 48.375 seconds. He improved steadily throughout the race and achieved the fastest time at the finish. Riks' performance was rewarded with a home victory. Leon Felderer finished second, just 0.111 seconds behind Rinks. The Italian was the fastest at several intermediate times and confirmed his solid form with another convincing result in the Nations Cup. Third place went to Ukraine's Anton Dukach, who finished 0.155 seconds behind, closely followed by Tucker West of the USA in fourth place (+0.172). Slovakia's Jozef Ninis rounded off the top five (+0.257), while Sweden's Svante Kohala completed the top six with a solid run, just 0.277 seconds behind the winner. "I'm happy with today's run and the home victory in Sigulda. It wasn't my best run and not the fastest time of the week, but in the end it was enough and I hope for two solid races tomorrow and on Sunday," said winner Rinks at the end.

Emily Fischnaller wins women's singles

The Nations Cup in the women's singles on the technically demanding track in Sigulda delivered a high-class race with extremely close margins at the top. The American Emily Fischnaller set the best time with a strong and clean run, stopping the clock at 41.868 seconds. She led at every intermediate time and secured victory in the first FIL Nations Cup of the 2026 Olympic year with a commanding performance.

Sandra Robatscher followed close behind in second place, just 0.079 seconds behind. The Italian confirmed her consistency on the track in Sigulda with a solid run that kept her within striking distance until the finish. The Latvian home crowd had reason to celebrate, as junior world champion Margita Sirsnina secured the last podium place, 0.182 seconds behind the winner. Her compatriot Zane Kaluma narrowly missed the podium in fourth place (+0.210), underlining Latvia's strong team performance in the Nations Cup. Italy placed two more athletes in the top six: Alexandra Oberstolz finished fifth (+0.340) and Nina Zoeggeler sixth (+0.411). “I love Sigulda, I love being here, we're staying in great apartments, I love the city and the track is fun. Today the track was a little warmer, there was more grip for sledding and it was a lot of fun to race here today,” said winner Emily Fischnaller.

Robezniece/Bogdanova fastest on home track

Latvia celebrated a home victory in the women's doubles. The fastest were 20-year-old Marta Robezniece from Zaķumuiža and her 21-year-old doubles partner Kitija Bogdanova. The two Latvians dominated the race from the start and were in the lead at all intermediate times. With a time of 42.744 seconds, they confidently secured first place. “Marta Robezniece said: ”The run wasn't good. We made small mistakes, there's room for improvement.“ ”We like today's conditions and hope that tomorrow will be the same for our World Cup race," analyzed Kitija Bogdanova.

In second place was the Chinese duo Adikeyoumu Gulijienaiti and Jiaying Zhao, who finished 0.803 seconds behind the winners with a time of 43.547 seconds. Third place went to Amanda Ogorodnikova and Selina Zvilna, much to the delight of the home crowd. The second Latvian pair finished in 43.679 seconds, 0.935 seconds behind the winners. With two Latvian sleds on the podium and an international field of pursuers, the women's doubles in Sigulda provided a successful start to the Nations Cup and underlined the strength of the Latvian junior team on their home track.

Rieder/Kainzwaldner confident on a favorite track

Emanuel Rieder and Simon Kainzwaldner prevailed in the men's doubles. The two Italians confidently secured victory with a time of 41.709 seconds. "The run was quite good in terms of training. Sigulda is actually one of our favorite tracks. I hope it will be the same again for tomorrow's World Cup race,“ said Rieder, and Kainzwaldner added: ”You could already tell today that the conditions had changed since training. When it's warmer, it's different to race. Let's see how it goes tomorrow."

Second place went to the young duo from Slovakia, Christian Bosman and Bruno Mick, who finished 0.302 seconds behind the winners with a time of 42.011 seconds. The Latvian local heroes Raimonds Baltgalvis and Uldis Jakseboga caused quite a stir. With a time of 42.014 seconds, they finished third – just three thousandths of a second behind the silver medalists.

Schedule for the 4th EBERSPÄCHER Luge World Cup, Sigulda (LAT):
Local start time (CET/MEZ)

Saturday, January 3, 2026

09:30 (08:30) Women's singles, 1st run
11:05 (10:05) Men's singles, 1st run
12:25 (11:25) Women's doubles, 1st run
13:00 (12:00) Men's doubles, 1st run
2:10 p.m. (1:10 p.m.) Women's Doubles, 2nd Run
2:15 p.m. (1:45 p.m.) Men's Doubles, 2nd Run

Sunday, January 4, 2026

11:15 a.m. (10:15 a.m.) Women's Singles, 2nd Run
12:25 p.m. (11:25 a.m.) Men's singles, 2nd run
2:15 p.m. (1:15 p.m.) Team relay

All information is subject to change!

Further information and all results can be found at the following link: https://www.fil-luge.org/en/media/eberspaecher-world-cup-46