Kick-off victory for Madeleine Egle - Summer Britcher secures podium finish

Lake Placid (FIL/09 Dec 2023) There was a little surprise in the air at this season's first women's singles race in the EBERSPAECHER Luge World Cup. US athlete Ashley Farquharson finished the first run with the second-best time, 0.149 seconds behind leader Madeleine Egle. While the Austrian also set the best time in run two and won in 1:28.710 minutes, 24-year-old Farquharson dropped back to fourth place, 0.437 seconds behind. Her compatriot Summer Britcher stepped into the breach, completing two solid runs on the demanding 1,130-metre Olympic track at Mount Van Hoevenberg, and finishing third, 0.407 seconds behind the winner. Placed between them was Julia Taubitz, last season's overall World Cup winner,  fishinishing 0.188 seconds behind Egle.

„Last year was really tough with a couple of injuries, and I am just happy to start the season this way“, said Britcher, delighted with her successful start. "The US women are very strong here, they are just great on the sled," said winner Egle, "it was hard to beat them." Like Tucker West the day before in the men's event, the female US athletes made good use of their home advantage also in the women's singles race. Commenting on her own performance, the Austrian said: "I had not raced so much on this track yet. That's why the training week helped me a lot to find the ideal line. In the second run, I had a problem in the chicane. After that, I didn't know whether it would be enough. Fortunately, turn 17 came straight away. Without it, things would probably have been different."

Three-time overall World Cup winner Taubitz was also satisfied with the season opener. "In the first run, I had a bit of trouble at the start, and at the exit of curve 14 in the second run. The speed is great, it's super fun to race here." Anna Berreiter was missing that. The World Champion from Germany only finished in seventh place, 0.063 seconds behind Egle.