Summer Britcher posted the fastest times for the Team USA during women’s singles luge training runs at the Cortina Sliding Centre on Sunday, Feb. 8.
Britcher’s time of 53.172 seconds on her fifth run was the ninth-best time recorded during the training session, tops among the three American competitors. The women’s luge course at the 2026 Winter Olympics is approximately 1,201 meters (1,313 yards) long.
Germany’s Merle Malou Fraebel and Julia Taubitz posted the top times in Sunday’s two training runs. Taubitz had the fastest time in the six training runs at 52.750, flying down the Cortina Sliding Centre track at a top speed of 119.4 kilometers per hour (approximately 74 mph).
The women’s singles luge medal competition starts Monday, Feb. 9 with two timed runs for each competitor beginning at 11 a.m. ET. There will be two more final timed runs beginning at 11 a.m. ET on Tuesday, Feb. 10. The combined times from all four runs determines the medal winners.
Germany, which won gold and silver in women’s singles luge at the 2022 Olympics, has won the most luge Olympic medals of any country, with 43 overall and 22 gold.
Emily Fischnaller is Team USA’s most decorated women’s luge competitor at the 2026 Winter Olympics. The 32-year-old is the second American to have won multiple luge singles medals, winning bronze at both the 2019 and 2025 World Championships.
Women’s singles luge fastest times for each run
Run 1 — Sandra Robatscher, Italy: 53.553 (Top Team USA finish: Emily Fischnaller, ninth: 53.820)
Run 2 — Elina Bota, Latvia: 53.541 (Top Team USA finish: Ashley Farquharson, eighth: 53.753)
Run 3 — Julia Taubitz, Germany: 53.268 (Top Team USA finish: Emily Fischnaller, 11th: 53.583)
Run 4 — Julia Taubitz, Germany: 53.408 (Top Team USA finish: Emily Fischnaller, fifth: 53.642
Run 5 – Merle Malou Fraebel, Germany: 52.855 (Top Team USA finish: Summer Britcher, seventh: 53.152)
Run 6 — Julia Taubitz, Germany: 52.750 (Top Team USA finish: Summer Britcher, third: 53.172)