Summer Britcher of the United States luge is heading to the Olympics.
Britcher scored her second win of the season in women's singles on Sunday, lifting her to the top of the World Cup standings and further cementing her status as a medal contender at the Cortina Olympics in Milan next month.
She won in Sigulda, Latvia, beating Lisa Schulte of Austria and Julia Taubitz of Germany in the second heat. Britcher's time in the two heats was 1 minute 23.840 seconds, Schulte finished in 1:23.877 and Taubitz finished in 1:23.931.
It was Britcher's seventh singles win, extending her all-time record for a U.S. Luge slider.
“Very, very happy,” Britcher said after her third medal – two golds and a bronze – in three singles races this season. “I’ve had a lot of ups and downs here in Sigulda, but a long time ago it was my favorite track and I really enjoyed it… It was a lot of fun to feel that joy again on the track here.”
Britcher has a chance to become the first American to win the overall World Cup singles crown. USA Luge had four world champions throughout the season, all in men's doubles. Chris Thorpe and Gordie Shear were the first, and then Mark Grimette and Brian Martin did it three times, the last of which was in the 2002–03 season.
And, quite remarkably, Britcher leads the points despite missing the race. USA Luge missed the season-opening World Cup competition in Winterberg, Germany, because it did not count toward the Olympic qualifying formula.
Britcher was third heading into Sunday's second heat; The single races in Sigulda this weekend used a two-races-in-two-days format, a bit of preparation for the two-day, four-race event at the Olympics.
Schulte and Taubitz were the only sliders who had a chance to catch Britcher in the end. They failed, which obviously took Britcher by surprise.
“I really didn’t think it would happen,” Britcher said. “I tried really hard not to think about the results. Because you run one every day, you have so much time to think about the possibilities, so I was really just thinking, 'Okay, what do I need to do on the track?' So, I think maybe I had a little bit of a disappointing smile at the end. I was so shocked.”
Ashley Farquharson was fifth for the United States in the women's singles. Emily Fischnaller, who was fourth in the second run, lost control near the end of the track and left the sled. She did not finish but walked away, apparently avoiding injury.
Britcher and Farquharson appear to be on track to be officially nominated to the U.S. Olympic Luge Team. Fischnaller still has a few paths to return to the Olympics; Next weekend's World Cup stop in Winterberg, Germany, will likely decide the fate of several international runners, including Fischnaller and U.S. men's singles veteran Tucker West.
The Winterberg race is the last Olympic qualifying race of the season.
The women's singles victory was one of two medals that day for Britcher, who also helped the U.S. Luge team win bronze in the team relay.
Schulte and Austria won the team relay, with hosts Latvia finishing second, and the American team of Britcher, Johnny Gustafson in the men's singles, Zach DiGregorio and Sean Hollander in the men's double sleigh, and Shevonne Forgan and Sophia Kirkby in the women's double sleigh, finishing third.
In the men's singles, two-time Olympic singles champion Felix Loch of Germany scored his 55th career win, two shy of the all-time record of 57 set by retired Italian great Armin Zoeggeler. Jonas Müller from Austria was second and Max Langenhahn from Germany was third.
The U.S. Luge plans to announce its Olympic team around Jan. 12, while the U.S. bobsleigh and skeleton teams for the Milan Games in Cortina are expected to be unveiled Jan. 19.
In Winterberg, the host Germans took victory in the women's bobsled race on Sunday, while the USA's Kayleigh Humphreys Armbruster narrowly missed out on a medal.
Laura Nolte led Germany to victory ahead of teammates Lisa Buchwitz and Kim Kalicki. Nolte's time in the two heats was 1:53.63, 0.16 seconds better than Bukwitz and 0.66 seconds ahead of Kalitsky.
Humphreys Armbruster teamed up with Sylvia Hoffman to finish fourth, 0.95 seconds behind Nolte. Elana Meyers Taylor finished eighth for the United States, and Kaisha Love crossed the finish line 10th.
And in the four-man race later on Sunday, Germany's season of absolute dominance continued.
Francesco Friedrich cruised to victory, Johannes Lochner was second and Adam Ammoor rallied in the second moto to finish third, giving Germany its eighth result in 10 World Cup races in two- and four-seaters this season.
These three sleds were separated by just 0.06 seconds.
The Germans now have 28 World Cup medals in men's bobsleigh this season. The rest of the world has two – South Korea has bronze and Italy has bronze.
Chris Horn finished eighth for the USA in the four-man race, while Frank Del Duca's sled finished 16th.
