From Sigulda, LAT
(January 4, 2026) – Summer Britcher’s 2026 portion of the 2025/2026 season kicked off the way her 2025 portion of the World Cup season began: With a gold medal, this time in Sigulda.
Britcher trailed Germany’s Julia Taubitz and Austria’s Lisa Schulte in the first heat, while teammate Emily Fischnaller sat just behind her in fourth. But the first big move of the race was made by another American, Ashley Farquharson.
Farquharson threw down a big second run from ninth place, and then watched as neither Sandra Robatscher, Hannah Prock, or Elina Bota could match her pace. It wasn’t until Merle Fräbel put down what would be the second quickest run of the heat that Farquharson got bumped out of the leader’s box.
After Fräbel it was Fischnaller’s turn to take to the ice. Fischnaller was cruising early, but trouble midway down her run culminated with a crash in the transition from Curves 13 to 14.
Britcher was next. The American picked up a little bit on the start, but put down what was a nearly flawless slide, the quickest of the race, and enough to take the lead from Fräbel.
Both Schulte and Taubitz put down slides that were close, but neither could match Britcher’s time, and when the dust had settled, Britcher was the winner by .037 ahead of Schulte, with Taubitz third, .091 back.
The gold was Britcher’s second, and third medal overall of the season. For Schulte, silver was her first podium of the season.
The race was split up across two days with the first heat on Saturday and second on Sunday.
“This was a ton of fun, but I had maybe the worst reaction for a win. I didn’t think it was going to happen, and I tried really hard to not think about the results with the one run each day,” Britcher told FIL TV after the race. “You have so much time to think about possibilities. I was so shocked! I’ve had a lot of ups and downs in Sigulda, a long time ago it was my favorite track and I really loved it so this week was so much fun. The track crew did an amazing job and it was so much fun to feel that joy on the track again!”
For Schulte, it was small mistakes that she felt cost her the win.
“I had couldn’t get my handle the right way in the start curve,” she said “It’s been really tricky this week, but I’m still really happy with the result.”
Taubitz, the leader overnight, had been racing sick and it may have caught up with her.
“I’ve been a little sick and I don’t feel so good today,” she said. “I’m happy with third place, but some points in the overall standings would have been better. I hope I’m feeling better in the next few days!”
Fräbel took fourth, with Farquharson fifth and Bota sixth.
The Canadians struggled in Sigulda, with Embyr-Lee Susko 21st, Trinity Ellis 22nd, and Caitlin Nash 26th.
With four races down in the World Cup season, Summer Britcher leads the standings despite missing the season opener in Winterberg. Merle Fräbel sits second, with Julia Taubitz, Lisa Schulte, and Hannah Prock third, fourth, and fifth respectively.
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
| 1 | Summer Britcher | USA | 14 | 1.668 | 1.657 | 41.938 | 41.902 | 1:23.840 |
| 2 | Lisa Schulte | AUT | 11 | 1.641 | 1.647 | 41.934 | 41.943 | 1:23.877 |
| 3 | Julia Taubitz | GER | 13 | 1.677 | 1.669 | 41.933 | 41.998 | 1:23.931 |
| 4 | Merle Fräbel | GER | 12 | 1.648 | 1.657 | 41.995 | 41.941 | 1:23.936 |
| 5 | Ashley Farquharson | USA | 15 | 1.653 | 1.652 | 42.107 | 42.024 | 1:24.131 |
| 6 | Elina Bota | LAT | 7 | 1.605 | 1.605 | 42.089 | 42.076 | 1:24.165 |
| 7 | Hannah Prock | AUT | 16 | 1.644 | 1.637 | 42.097 | 42.079 | 1:24.176 |
| 8 | Anna Berreiter | GER | 9 | 1.651 | 1.647 | 42.222 | 42.003 | 1:24.225 |
| 9 | Dorothea Schwarz | AUT | 17 | 1.651 | 1.659 | 42.157 | 42.084 | 1:24.241 |
| 10 | Sandra Robatscher | ITA | 4 | 1.627 | 1.642 | 42.118 | 42.135 | 1:24.253 |
| 11 | Verena Hofer | ITA | 10 | 1.647 | 1.628 | 42.210 | 42.064 | 1:24.274 |
| 12 | Zane Kaluma | LAT | 2 | 1.648 | 1.659 | 42.118 | 42.188 | 1:24.306 |
| 13 | Kendija Aparjode | LAT | 8 | 1.651 | 1.651 | 42.101 | 42.229 | 1:24.330 |
| 14 | Margita Sirsnina | LAT | 3 | 1.661 | 1.662 | 42.191 | 42.231 | 1:24.422 |
| 15 | Natalie Maag | SUI | 6 | 1.672 | 1.660 | 42.248 | 42.246 | 1:24.494 |
| 16 | Alexandra Oberstolz | ITA | 1 | 1.629 | 1.635 | 42.291 | 42.275 | 1:24.566 |
| 17 | Anka Jänicke | GER | 19 | 1.690 | 1.692 | 42.370 | 42.323 | 1:24.693 |
| 18 | Barbara Allmaier | AUT | 22 | 1.653 | 1.654 | 42.352 | 42.369 | 1:24.721 |
| 19 | Nina Zöggeler | ITA | 18 | 1.653 | 1.669 | 42.500 | 42.503 | 1:25.003 |
| 20 | Peixuan Wang | CHN | 25 | 1.639 | 42.516 | |||
| 21 | Embyr-Lee Susko | CAN | 21 | 1.664 | 42.520 | |||
| 22 | Trinity Ellis | CAN | 20 | 1.659 | 42.571 | |||
| 23 | Yulianna Tunytska | UKR | 27 | 1.638 | 42.634 | |||
| 24 | Olena Smaha | UKR | 24 | 1.639 | 42.672 | |||
| 25 | Klaudia Domaradzka | POL | 26 | 1.672 | 42.802 | |||
| 26 | Caitlin Nash | CAN | 23 | 1.643 | 42.805 | |||
| 27 | Huilan Hu | CHN | 28 | 1.667 | 42.883 | |||
| 28 | Veronica Ravenna | ARG | 29 | 1.715 | 43.258 | |||
| 29 | Hyesun Jung | KOR | 30 | 1.668 | 43.483 | |||
| DNF | Emily Fischnaller | USA | 5 | 1.627 | 1.624 | 41.960 | DNF |