High emotions in the doubles races
Egle/Kipp and Mueller/Haugsjaa the fastest
Lake Placid (FIL/December 20, 2025) High emotions at the EBERSPÄCHER Luge World Cup in Lake Placid. Marcus Mueller and Ansel Haugsjaa (USA) celebrated their first World Cup victory on their home track. “We were so nervous before the second run,” admitted Haugsjaa, “it was the first time we were the last ones sitting at the top. But we are so proud that we made it down the run and were able to clinch our first World Cup victory in front of this great crowd.” Mueller said: “We felt incredibly good on the track. We have to take this feeling with us to the next races.” The two runs added up to 1:27.509 minutes. This made them 0.058 seconds faster than the Latvians Martins Bots/Roberts Plume. “We saw that our sled is really fast,” explained Obermann Bots. And Plume added: “We'll take this momentum with us to the next race in Sigulda, where we'll be aiming for another podium finish.”
Yannick Müller and Armin Frauscher came in third, 0.140 seconds behind. “The track is incredibly challenging,” said Müller, “we managed two solid runs, so we deserved the podium.”
They were followed by Toni Eggert/Florian Müller (Germany/0.148 seconds behind) ahead of the Italians Ivan Nagler/Fabian Malleier (0.151) and the Olympic champions Tobias Wendl/Tobias Arlt (Germany/0.243).
Selina Egle and Lara Kipp completed their two runs in the ice channel at Mount Van Hoevenberg with great confidence. In the first run, they took the lead with 44.151 seconds – a track record. Until then, this record had been held by Dajana Eitberger (Germany) and her former partner Saskia Schirmer with 44.425 seconds. The Austrian duo Egle/Kipp also achieved the fastest time in the second run with 44.159 seconds. This gave them a total time of 1:28.310 minutes. “This is our first World Cup victory in Lake Placid,” said a delighted Egle, “both runs were very good.”
Eitberger came second with her new partner Magdalena Matschina. They were 0.284 seconds behind. “We didn't expect Egle/Kipp to beat us so badly,” said Eitberger, “congratulations on your performance. That was really well done.” The German duo wanted to put in two good runs on the ice track. “We didn't quite manage that; we had better runs during the week,” explained Eitberger.
Chevonne Forgan and Sophia Kirkby were very satisfied. The Americans finished third, 0.809 seconds behind. At the finish line, Kirkby became emotional because two years ago, her late father was with her for the last time at a race in Lake Placid. Chevonne Forgan hugged her: "It's the best thing to be on the podium here with Sophia in front of our families. It's an incredibly wonderful feeling."
Jessica Degenhardt/Cheyenne Rosenthal (Germany/0.856) came in fourth, ahead of the second US duo Maya Chan/Sophia Gordon (0.870), who had led in the first run, and Andrea Vötter/Marion Oberhofer (Italy/1.050).
