Tough battle in Austria for Olympic tickets: Jonas Müller takes pole position

Cortina d'Ampezzo (FIL/30 Nov 2025) Does the result of the men's Olympic Test Event of the International Luge Federation (FIL) in Cortina d'Ampezzo already point to the Olympic Games in February? Jonas Müller was the fastest down the new 1,730-meter ice track at the Cortina Sliding Center. The Austrian achieved the best overall performance in 1:46.364 minutes. In the first run, he set the best time of 53.055 seconds. “I had two really great runs,” said Müller, “if I could put together four like that at the Olympics, I would be overjoyed.” But first he has to qualify within the Austrian team. “Of all the nations, this will be the toughest qualification because we have four strong athletes in our team competing for three places.” Wolfgang Kindl and the Gleirscher brothers, Nico and David, are also hoping to secure a place at the Olympic Games. But after this success, Müller's chances are looking very good.

Wolfgang Kindl is also doing well in the race. The 37-year-old veteran, who also wants to qualify in the doubles with his partner Thomas Steu, came third, 0.179 seconds behind. Nico and David Gleirscher were close together in sixth and seventh place. Nico was 0.394 seconds behind, while his older brother David, the 2018 Olympic champion in Pyeongchang, was 0.768 seconds behind winner Müller.

Kristers Aparjods was also very satisfied with his performance. The Latvian finished second, 0.173 seconds behind. “I like the track in Cortina and this is a perfect start to the season for me. Let's hope it continues like this,” said the likeable Latvian.

Three-time Olympic champion Felix Loch (Germany) was able to overtake his teammate Max Langenhan with the best time (53.252) in the second run. However, Loch was more than two tenths of a second (0.201) behind winner Müller, while Langenhan was 0.218 seconds behind. “I didn't make any major mistakes in either run,” said Langenhan, “I just couldn't go any faster today. I still enjoyed it though.”

The Austrian team also dominated the final team relay. Lisa Schulte, Thomas Steu/Wolfgang Kindl, Jonas Müller, and Selina Egle/Laura Kipp were the fastest to hit the touchpad with a time of 3:42.536 minutes. Team Germany with Julia Taubitz, Hannes Orlamünder/Paul Gubitz, Felix Loch, and Dajana Eitberger/Magdalena Matschina was 0.286 seconds slower. The Italian team (Verena Hofer, Emanuel Rieder/Simon Kainzwaldner, Leon Felderer, Andrea Vötter/Marion Oberhofer) finished third, 0.468 seconds behind. Fourth place went to Latvia (Elina Bota, Martins Bots/Roberts Plume, Kristers Aparjods, Marta Robezniece/Kitija Bogdanova; 0.612 seconds) ahead of the USA (Ashley Farquharson, Marcus Müller/Ansel Haugsjaa, Jonathan Gustafson, Chevonne Forgan/Sophia Kirkby; 0.991) and Ukraine (3.796).