Emily Sweeney Captures Luge Silver Medal On U.S. Home Ice At Park City

Emily Sweeney reacts after the women's individual race at the 2022 FIL Luge World Cup on Dec. 3, 2022 in Innsbruck, Austria.

Two-time Olympian Emily Sweeney continued her strong start to the 2022-23 luge world cup season Saturday, claiming her second silver medal of the campaign in women’s singles at Park City, Utah.
Sweeney was third after her first run, posting a time of 43.345 seconds that saw her find a bit more speed further down the track. She had the second-fastest split times in the field on her second run, finishing in 43.266 seconds for a total time of 1:26.611. She edged Germany’s Julia Taubitz (1:26.619) for third place, but nobody could catch Dajana Eitberger as the German won in 1:26.471.
Brittney Arndt and Olympian Ashley Farquharson of the U.S. also earned top-10 finishes, coming in seventh and ninth, respectively.
Sweeney started impressively in this year’s world cup, becoming the first U.S. woman to earn a podium finish in the first event of the year since three-time Olympian Summer Britcher did so in 2019. In between silver medals, Sweeney placed 10th last weekend in Whistler, British Columbia. Sweeney is the only American to medal in the world cup this season and ranks third in the world cup standings.
The 29-year-old from Suffield, Connecticut, is a member of the U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program. She won a bronze medal in women’s singles at the 2019 world championships, nine months after fracturing her neck and back in her Olympic debut. She competed in her second Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 earlier this year.
This was the first luge world cup held in Park City since 2019. U.S. athletes narrowly missed the podium in three other events as three-time Olympian Tucker West (men’s singles), Olympians Zack DiGregorio and Sean Hollander (men’s doubles), and Sweeney and Britcher (women’s doubles) all came in fourth.
The world cup schedule will resume in the new year from Sigulda, Latvia, on Jan. 7-8, 2023.