Fischnaller, Greiner move closer to officially locking up US Olympic luge berths

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WINTERBERG, Germany (AP) — USA Luge is likely sending three women and two men to the singles races at next month's Milan Cortina Olympics, after Emily Fischnaller and Matthew Greiner appeared to clinch spots with their World Cup finishes on Saturday.

The International Luge Federation has not officially told national teams yet how many spots they have earned in the Milan Cortina fields, but the expectation — after Saturday's fifth and final singles Olympic qualifier of the season — is that it'll be Summer Britcher, Ashley Farquharson and Fischnaller on the U.S. women's team, with Jonny Gustafson and Greiner on the U.S. men's team.

USA Luge plans to announce its Olympic nominations on Monday.

Austria’s Hannah Prock won the women’s World Cup race Saturday, with Germany’s Julia Taubitz second and Italy’s Verena Hofer third. Lisa Schulte of Austria was fourth, one spot ahead of Britcher — who is now third in the World Cup seasonlong standings.

Farquharson crashed in her first run and did not finish but walked away with no apparent major issues. Fischnaller was 18th on Saturday.

If it is Britcher, Farquharson and Fischnaller on the Milan Cortina singles team for the U.S., as now expected, it would be the second consecutive time that trio represents USA Luge on the Olympic stage.

In the men’s race, Austria’s Jonas Mueller edged Germany’s Felix Loch — still the World Cup leader — for the win, with Nico Gleirscher of Austria placing third.

Gustafson was the top American man, placing ninth. Greiner was 15th, five spots ahead of fellow American Tucker West — who has been trying to race through injuries all season. Those results moved Greiner past West in the Olympic qualifying standings, and that means if USA Luge gets only two men's singles Olympic spots, as expected, Greiner would be joining Gustafson on the squad.

“I had the best race of my career on my favorite track in the world today and got the job done when it mattered," Greiner said. "It’s literally a dream come true.”

Based on Saturday's results, it also appears that the FIL will allocate two spots — one men's singles, one women's singles — to Russian athletes who would compete as neutral sliders at the Olympics. The Russians did not compete on top international circuits over the last three seasons in response to their nation's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, though had some athletes permitted to compete this season in a chance to qualify for Milan Cortina.

At St. Moritz, Switzerland, Kaillie Humphries Armbruster's fourth-place finish in women's monobob was the top finish of the day for the U.S. — which will announce its Olympic teams for bobsled and skeleton on Jan. 19.

Bree Walker of Australia got her series-leading third win of the season, with Melanie Hasler of Switzerland second and Katrin Beierl of Austria third. Humphries Armbruster's fourth-place showing matched her best of the season.

Elana Meyers Taylor was ninth and Kaysha Love was 14th for the U.S. in the monobob race.

In two-man, Germany's Johannes Lochner won for the fifth time in six races this season and Francesco Friedrich was second. But for the first time this season, it wasn't a German two-man medals sweep: Britain's Brad Hall drove to third, while Germany's Adam Ammour managed only a sixth-place finish.

Frank Del Duca of the U.S. was seventh.

Luge: World Cup men's doubles, women's doubles and team relay Sunday at Winterberg.

Bobsled: World Cup two-woman, four-man races Sunday at St. Moritz.

Skeleton: Men’s, women’s and mixed World Cup races on Jan. 16 at Altenberg, Germany.

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AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics