USA Luge announces national team for fall 2024:
Seven Olympians and two juniors on the team.
Lake Placid (FIL/USA Luge, 11 May 2024) The USA Luge Federation has announced the members of the 2024 national team. The team consists of seven Olympians and hopes to build on last season's successes. The team won 14 medals, including two at the World Championships. The US athletes also achieved eight top ten finishes in the EBERSPAECHER overall World Cup. Two athletes will move up from the junior national team to the national team.
Women's doubles
The bronze medalists from the 2024 World Championships, Chevonne Forgan/Sophia Kirkby, will be looking to build on their success after finishing fifth in the EBERSPAECHER overall World Cup rankings. Forgan (Chelmsford, Mass.) and Kirkby (Ray Brook, N.Y.) stood on the podium more often than any other US sled last season with eight medals. This includes World Championship silver in the relay and bronze in the doubles.
Also returning are Maya Chan (Chicago, Ill.) and Reannyn Weiler (Whitesboro, N.Y.). After six sixth places in the EBERSPAECHER World Cup and a seventh place overall, the team is aiming to return to the podium in the coming season.
Men's doubles
The 2023 Lake Placid World Cup winners, Zack DiGregorio and Sean Hollander, will once again represent Team USA internationally next season after five top-ten finishes last winter, including a gold medal at the World Cup opener in Lake Placid. 2022 Olympians DiGregorio (Medway, Mass.) and Hollander (Lake Placid, N.Y.) finished seventh overall and were part of three medal-winning relay teams.
Also returning will be Dana Kellogg (Chesterfield, Mass.) and Frank Ike (Lititz, Pa.), who were new to the team last season. The duo finished in the top ten seven times and finished on the World Championship podium in their first season together with a silver medal in the team relay.
Women's singles
2022 Olympian Ashley Farquharson (Park City, Utah), who led the US team during the 2023/2024 EBERSPAECHER World Cup, will be back for the 2024/2025 season. Highlights of the season included a silver medal in the World Cup sprint. Farquharson also finished fourth five times, including at the World Championships. The 25-year-old also won two bronze medals in the team relay.
Three-time Olympian Summer Britcher (Glen Rock, Pa.) will be a member of the U.S. national team again in 2024/2025 after a bronze medal at the World Cup in Lake Placid and a silver medal at the World Championships with the team relay.
2018 and 2022 Olympian Emily Sweeney (Lake Placid, N.Y.) is entering her 13th season on the national team after finishing eighth overall in the EBERSPAECHER World Cup last winter. Sweeney was successful in the World Cup sprint, winning bronze in Lake Placid and Sigulda, Latvia.
Emma Erickson (Park City, Utah), who competed in both World Cup and Junior World Cup races last season, moves from the Junior National Team to the National Team. She was the top-ranked U.S. women's singles at the Junior World Championships in Lillehammer 2024, finishing 12th.
Men's singles
World Cup gold medalist and three-time Olympian Tucker West leads the U.S. national team into the new season after a consistent season in which he finished ninth overall. West (Ridgefield, Conn.) was named the fastest starter in the world after his first-place finish at the 2023 International Start Cup. Throughout the season, he was consistently among the top three starters in all competitions. West's fast reaction and start times, as well as his experience in the ice track, helped Team USA win three medals in the World Cup Relay and a silver medal in the World Championship Relay.
The 2022 Olympian, Johnny Gustafson, will still be on the hunt for his first podium finish in the World Cup. He took the bronze medal with Team USA at the World Cup in Winterberg and finished the season in tenth place in the EBERSPAECHER overall standings.
Hunter Harris (East Fairfield, Vt.) returns to the national team for a second season and finished the season in 23rd place.
2024 Junior World Championships silver medalist Matt Greiner will join the National Team, getting the call up from the Junior National Team. Greiner (Park City, Utah) ranked third overall in the Junior World Cup last year.
The World Cup season with nine stops will begin in Lillehammer (Norway) from November 29 to December 1, 2024. The 53rd FIL World Championships are scheduled for February 6-9, 2025, in Whistler (Canada).
