EBERSPAECHER Luge World Cup Park City, Singles:

Summer Britcher and Jonas Müller pass the test of nerves

Park City (FIL/13 Dec 2025) Not all of the ladies and gentlemen coped equally well with the unusual situation at the EBERSPAECHER Luge World Cup in Park City, where the two runs were held on two consecutive days. However, Summer Britcher (USA) and Jonas Müller (Austria) confidently defended their leads. Summer Britcher had to wait eight years to add a sixth victory to her five previous successes. The 31-year-old achieved this on home turf at Utah Olympic Park.

“It's indescribable to be back on top of the podium in front of my family and friends,” she rejoiced, not only because of her performance, but also because of that of Ashley Farquharson, who stood next to her in third place at the award ceremony. “Being able to share this moment with Ashley is something very special.” Farquharson felt the same way: “This is my first podium, I didn't expect it after this difficult week. But I managed two really good runs.” Britcher's winning time was 1:26.961 minutes. Her teammate Farquharson was 0.109 seconds slower. Verena Hofer (Italy) managed to squeeze in between the two Americans, finishing four thousandths of a second behind Farquharson. Hofer also stood on the podium for the first time. This success will change Britcher's approach to racing in the future: “You no longer ask yourself how it will go, but tell yourself: Just have fun!”

Two Austrians took fourth and fifth place: Dorothea Schwarz (0.130 seconds behind) and Winterberg winner Hannah Prock (0.180). Merle Fräbel (0.264) followed in sixth place ahead of Nathalie Maag (Switzerland/0.300). Julia Taubitz improved by six places to eighth. The overall World Cup winner was 0.341 seconds behind.

While Britcher and Farquharson celebrated exuberantly with the fans in the finish area, Emily Fischnaller left the track deeply disappointed. The 32-year-old had been in second place at the halfway point, but fell back to 13th place with a 0.535-second deficit after the 19th fastest run.

Jonas Müller was just as strong-nerved as Summer Britcher.

The 28-year-old Austrian was the only luger to finish the second run in under 45 seconds. He crossed the finish line in exactly 44.988 seconds, further extending his lead after the first run. This was his seventh World Cup victory. With a time of 1:29.640 minutes, he was 0.257 seconds ahead of Max Langenhan (Germany). “This week was very difficult,” said Müller, “after the two crashes in training, I changed the setup and felt much more comfortable afterwards.” World champion Langenhan expressed similar sentiments. The overall World Cup winner of the past two winters was riding on the track at Utah Olympic Park for the first time. "I don't know what to say. The track is really challenging, I was in survival mode the whole time. It was all about setting the sled safely so that I could come down straight,“ he said of his challenges: ”But I came out of turns eleven and twelve sideways every time and almost crashed. Of course, that's not enough to put a little pressure on Jonas. Jonas did an amazing job – congratulations."

Leon Felderer was very satisfied with himself and his performance. The Italian was already a respectable 0.508 seconds behind in third place, but was delighted with his first podium finish. “I've been waiting so long for this moment,” he said, beaming with joy, “I like the track, I really enjoyed sledding here.” Close behind the 25-year-old was his compatriot Dominik Fischnaller (0.561 seconds behind), ahead of Jonathan Gustafson (0.575) from the USA. Felix Loch (0.887) finished behind David Nössler (Germany/0.805). The three-time Olympic champion had worked his way up from 14th to seventh place with the second-fastest time in the second run (45.006). And yet he was only partially satisfied: “Today I got through turns two and three well at the top, and without the mistake at the bottom I would certainly have been a little further ahead. Now I'm a little more satisfied.”