Women's Single Luge in the Winter Olympics: Women's Luge Singles Run 1 at the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics

After the official training sessions wrapped up, it was finally time for the women’s singles luge athletes to put everything on the line. The Cortina Sliding Centre was ready — fast, icy, and unforgiving — with its signature quick hills and lightning-fast curves waiting to punish any tiny mistake.

The first official tournament was Run 1 on February 9 delivered exactly what we expected: drama, speed, and a whole lot of tension right from the first slider. Here are my personal highlights from the opening heat, especially zooming in on the top 5 and how the U.S. women looked on day one.

Top 5 After Run 1 – The Big Moments

1. Merle Malou Fraebel (Germany 🇩🇪) – 52.590 seconds (NEW TRACK RECORD) Holy smokes. The 22-year-old German on her Olympic debut just dropped a bomb. She flew down the track at 123.6 km/h and reset the Cortina track record on her very first competitive run. That aggressive, flawless line she took through the bottom section? Chef’s kiss. Germany just announced they’re here to sweep.

2. Julia Taubitz (Germany 🇩🇪) – 52.638 seconds (+0.048) The reigning world champion didn’t let her young teammate run away with it. Fastest start time of the field (3.925 seconds) and a super-clean slide. Only 48 thousandths back — that’s basically nothing in luge terms. This is already shaping up to be an epic German 1-2 duel.

3. Verena Hofer (Italy 🇮🇹) – 52.861 seconds (+0.271) Home-track advantage is real. Verena used every bit of her local knowledge to put down a strong, mistake-free run. She held off both Americans by the smallest of margins to sit in third after Run 1. The Italian crowd was loving every second of it.

4. Ashley Farquharson (United States 🇺🇸) – 52.862 seconds (+0.272) This was the run that had me jumping out of my seat. Ashley (Park City, UT) came down from bib #16 and absolutely nailed it — zero visible mistakes, beautiful flow, and serious speed. She missed the podium position by one one-thousandth of a second. One. Thousandth. She’s right there in the medal fight, and I’m already feeling the bronze vibes for Team USA.

5. Elīna Ieva Bota (Latvia 🇱🇻) – 52.878 seconds (+0.288) Bota slid with real composure and power to lock in fifth. She’s quietly putting herself in position to strike if anyone ahead of her falters. Latvia’s been building momentum in women’s luge, and she’s showing why.

How the Americans Looked

• Ashley Farquharson (4th) She’s the clear standout so far. That clean, confident run kept her right in the mix and built huge momentum going into Run 2. If she can stay this sharp, she’s got a real shot at hardware.

• Emily Fischnaller (7th – 52.892 seconds, +0.302) Veteran presence. Emily didn’t light up the timing screens like Ashley, but she was smooth, experienced, and stayed well within reach of the leaders. Classic Emily — she’s always dangerous when the pressure builds.

• Summer Britcher (15th – 53.389 seconds, +0.799) Tough one for Summer. She made early contact with the wall coming out of the first few curves, which cost her a chunk of time. But credit where it’s due — she fought back hard, finished strong, and showed that trademark grit. She’s still very much alive in this competition.

Germany set the tone with the top two times and the new track record, but don’t sleep on the U.S. women — especially Ashley Farquharson. The margins are razor-thin at the front. One perfect line or one small mistake in Runs 3 and 4 could change everything.