Germany takes 5 medals, Austria takes 4 in opening day of luge World Cup racing

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WINTERBERG, Germany (AP) — Germany and Austria swept all nine available medals Saturday in the opening World Cup luge races of the season.

Felix Loch won the men’s singles race for Germany by posting the fastest time in both heats, edging Austria’s Jonas Mueller by about one-tenth of a second. Max Langenhan of Germany was third.

Germany also grabbed gold and bronze in women’s doubles, with Jessica Rosenthal and Cheyenne Rosenthal getting the win. Austria’s Selina Egle and Lara Kipp were second, while Germany’s Dajana Eitberger and Magdalena Matschina were third.

Austria got the win in men’s doubles, with Juri Gatt and Riccardo Schoepf topping Germany’s Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt. Yannick Mueller and Armin Frauscher were third for Austria.

The World Cup for luge continues Sunday with women’s singles and a team relay.

USA Luge is not competing this weekend, opting instead to stay home and prepare for World Cups later this month on their tracks in Park City, Utah, and Lake Placid, New York. This weekend’s races are not part of the Olympic qualifying system, another reason why the Americans opted to pass.

The World Cup bobsled and skeleton circuits are taking the weekend off before resuming competition next week in Lillehammer, Norway.

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