IGLS, Austria — Kaysha Love from the United States secured a commendable second place in a World Cup monobob event on Saturday, marking her finest performance this season. After claiming a bronze medal in a two-woman race at Sigulda, Latvia, back in December, Love faced a setback due to a virus over the holiday period. This illness impacted her subsequent races, where she struggled with her results, failing to place better than tenth in her first three competitions post-illness.
However, Love made a remarkable comeback in Igls, showcasing her talent by recording the second-fastest times in both heats. She finished just 0.04 seconds behind Germany’s Lisa Buckwitz, who clinched the gold, while Laura Nolte from Germany took home the bronze medal.
Earlier in the day, the two-man event in Igls saw Germany once again demonstrating their dominance, achieving their seventh overall sweep of medals this World Cup season. This dominance included three occurrences in two-woman races and four in two-man events. Johannes Lochner and Georg Fleischhauer were able to seize victory in this event, with Francesco Friedrich and Alexander Schüller claiming second place, and Adam Ammour and Nick Stadelmann rounding out the podium in third. Notably, Frank del Duca from the U.S. achieved a commendable fourth place, supported by his sled pusher Charles Volker.
In the world of luge, Julia Taubitz from Germany emerged victorious in a women’s singles World Cup race held at Winterberg, Germany, narrowly beating Austria’s Madeleine Egle. Emily Sweeney from the U.S. also put in an impressive performance, securing third place, which marked her second singles medal of the season. “I really struggled to find a clean line down, but I’m happy with a third, for sure,” Sweeney reflected on her achievement.
As for the women’s doubles, the Austrian duo of Selina Egle and Lara Kipp celebrated their fifth straight win, solidifying their lead in the overall points standings over Germany’s Jessica Degenhardt and Cheyenne Rosenthal, who finished in second place for the fifth time this season. Andrea Voetter and Marion Oberhofer from Italy managed to achieve their best finish this season in third. The U.S. pair of Chevonne Forgan and Sophie Kirkby finished in seventh place but maintained their position in third overall in the standings.
Meanwhile, in the men’s doubles, the German team of Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt secured their second victory out of six opportunities this season, allowing them to take the lead in the overall standings. They were followed by two Austrian sleds, with Juri Gatt and Riccado Schoepf finishing a season-best second, and Yannick Muelle and Armin Frauscher in third for the third consecutive race. Latvian duo Martins Bots and Roberts Plume achieved sixth place, aiding the Wendl-Arlt team in extending their lead over them in the overall rankings. The top-performing U.S. sled in men’s doubles was led by Marcus Mueller and Ansel Haugsjaa, finishing in ninth place.
In preparations for the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics, officials representing the three sliding sports—bobsled, skeleton, and luge—inspected the progress of the reconstruction of a track in Italy. If the track is not completed on time, the Olympic sliding events will be held in Lake Placid, New York. The Italian decision to renovate the century-old track in Cortina, costing nearly $90 million, has faced substantial opposition from the International Olympic Committee. Alternate suggestions have included relocating the sliding events to tracks in nearby Austria or Switzerland.
The Italian Olympic organizers issued a statement noting the pressing timeline to be ready for the start of ice-making in early March and the track’s pre-homologation at the end of March. They emphasized the need for close monitoring of progress, ongoing information sharing, and planned follow-up meetings in mid-February. Questions remain regarding alternative plans should the critical pre-homologation not proceed as scheduled in March.
Looking ahead, the bobsled World Cup will feature two-woman and four-man races on Saturday in Igls, while the luge World Cup will continue with men’s singles and team relay events on Sunday in Winterberg. The skeleton World Cup season will conclude with men’s, women’s, and mixed team finals on February 7 in Lillehammer, Norway.
