Emily

Sweeney

Quick Facts

• Daughter of Larry and Suzan Sweeney
• Older sister, Megan, competed in luge at the Olympic Winter Games Vancouver 2010
• Dad's side of the family grew up near Lake Placid, New York
  • Her grandmother drove the Swiss bobsled team from the Olympic village to the Bobsled track during the Olympic Winter Games Lake Placid 1980

• Favorite movies include Miracle and Molly’s Game

• Big fan of Taylor Swift and Kelly Clarkson
• Hobbies: Cooking and being in nature

Biographical Information

Emily started luge at age 10 when she was found in a "slider search" by USA Luge in Rhode Island. She made her debut on the FIL World Cup tour at age 16 and just missed making the 2010 U.S. Olympic Team when Sweeney lost in a special run-off against her older sister, Megan for the final U.S. Olympic women's luge spot to the Olympic Winter Games Vancouver 2010.

Sweeney made her Olympic debut in 2018 and crashed on her fourth and final run in the women’s singles event fracturing both her back and neck. Sweeney did not resume training until six months after the crash while also dealing with depression saying: "It (the crash) broke me in a lot of ways. After that, I had fear." In the season she returned to the track, she would win a bronze medal at the 2019 FIL World Championship, a result she would repeat 2025 FIL World Championships, becoming only the second American to claim multiple singles medals in luge.

Emily is an U.S. Army veteran, serving 10+ years in New York and Colorado. She started a non-profit, Champions 4 Changes, which connects Olympians and Paralympians with programs for individuals with disabilities to empower through movement through virtual exercise.

She married Italian men’s luger and 2022 Olympic bronze medalist Dominik Fischnaller in May 2025, and they built a house together in Meransen, Italy.

Olympic Experience

• 2-time Olympian
• Olympic Games Beijing 2022, 26th (Single - Women)
• Olympic Games Pyeongchang 2018, (Single - Women)

World Championships Experience

• Most recent: 2025 – bronze (Single - Women), 4th (Team - Relay - Mixed)
• Years of participation: Single - Women 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2024, 2025; Team - Relay - Mixed 2019, 2025; Sprint - Single - Women 2017, 2019
• Medals: 2 (2 bronze)
• Bronze – 2025 (Single - Women); 2019 (Single - Women)