From Lake Placid, USA
(December 20, 2025) – Marcus Mueller and Ansel Haugsjaa had lingered around the podium from time to time in World Cup action before, but hadn’t ever scored a World Cup gold.
That changed on their home track in Lake Placid, as the American duo slid to gold, edging out Yannick Müller and Armin Frauscher for the top spot.
The Americans were the third team off in the first heat and slid to the lead, just ahead of the Austrians, with Latvia’s Martins Bots and Roberts Plume in third, less than a tenth of a second out of the lead.
In the second heat, Bots and Plume threw down the quick run of the competition to take the lead from Italy’s Ivan Nagler and Fabian Malleier, but that lead would only last for about a minute and a half, as Müller and Frauscher quickly took over in the leader’s box.
Müller and Haugsjaa had won Junior World Cup races before, but sat alone at the top of Mt. Van Hoevenberg for the first time as leaders. Their second start was quicker than their first, and while their second run wasn’t quite as smooth as their first, they were able to edge out the Austrians by .057 to take their first gold, with Müller and Frauscher second and Bots and Plume third.
“We were so nervous before the second run,” Haugsjaa told FIL media after the race. “It was the first time we were the last ones sitting at the top. But we are so proud that we made it down the run and were able to clinch our first World Cup victory in front of this great crowd!”
Nagler and Malleier were fourth, with Toni Eggert and Florian Müller fifth. Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt rounded out the top six.
The United States’ Zack DiGregorio and Sean Hollander were eighth, one spot ahead of Dana Kellogg and Frank Ike in ninth.
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
| 1 | Mueller / Haugsjaa | USA | 3 | 6.302 | 6.298 | 43.766 | 43.743 | 1:27.509 |
| 2 | Müller / Frauscher | AUT | 8 | 6.331 | 6.312 | 43.823 | 43.826 | 1:27.649 |
| 3 | Bots / Plume | LAT | 12 | 6.334 | 6.286 | 43.851 | 43.716 | 1:27.567 |
| 4 | Nagler / Malleier | ITA | 1 | 6.287 | 6.264 | 43.858 | 43.802 | 1:27.660 |
| 5 | Eggert / Müller | GER | 13 | 6.334 | 6.372 | 43.922 | 43.735 | 1:27.657 |
| 6 | Wendl / Arlt | GER | 10 | 6.249 | 6.251 | 43.965 | 43.787 | 1:27.752 |
| 7 | Steu / Kindl | AUT | 14 | 6.332 | 6.320 | 43.979 | 43.832 | 1:27.811 |
| 8 | DiGregorio / Hollander | USA | 15 | 6.329 | 6.321 | 43.981 | 43.956 | 1:27.937 |
| 9 | Kellogg / Ike | USA | 2 | 6.408 | 6.390 | 43.995 | 43.992 | 1:27.987 |
| 10 | Sevics-Mikelsevics / Krasts | LAT | 7 | 6.320 | 6.295 | 44.071 | 44.061 | 1:28.132 |
| 11 | Gatt / Schöpf | AUT | 11 | 6.322 | 6.335 | 44.089 | 43.755 | 1:27.844 |
| 12 | Vavercak / Zmij | SVK | 21 | 6.334 | 6.336 | 44.181 | 44.070 | 1:28.251 |
| 13 | Bosman / Mick | SVK | 16 | 6.414 | 6.382 | 44.245 | 44.227 | 1:28.472 |
| 14 | Chmielewski / Gancarczyk | POL | 17 | 6.287 | 6.266 | 44.306 | 44.277 | 1:28.583 |
| 15 | Rieder / Kainzwaldner | ITA | 5 | 6.350 | 6.333 | 44.341 | 44.067 | 1:28.408 |
| 16 | Orlamüinder / Gubitz | GER | 9 | 6.352 | 6.312 | 44.385 | 44.064 | 1:28.449 |
| 17 | Hoi / Kachmar | UKR | 6 | 6.427 | 6.419 | 44.691 | 44.797 | 1:29.488 |
| 18 | Gitlan / Serban | ROU | 20 | 6.466 | 6.414 | 45.036 | 44.751 | 1:29.787 |
| 19 | Panchuk / Muts | UKR | 18 | 6.422 | 45.180 | |||
| 20 | Handaric / Motzca | ROU | 4 | 6.438 | 45.203 | |||
| 21 | Martsinovskyi / Babura | UKR | 19 | 6.445 | 45.266 |