From Cortina d’Ampezzo, ITA
(February 10, 2026) – For the second time in as many races in the 2026 Winter Olympic Games, a German scored a dominant victory from the first starting spot in luge.
That, however, is where the comparisons end.
In a hard-fought race, Julia Taubitz overcame disappointment from the 2022 Olympics where she crashed as the leader to win by nearly a full second ahead of the field.
Taubitz led by just .061 going into the third heat, with teammate and Heat 1 leader Merle Fräbel hot on her heels. On her third effort Taubitz threw down another spectacular run, while it was her slowest of the competition it would prove to be the quickest of the heat.
Fräbel was next. On the heels of a breakout season, the German had trouble on the start ramp where so many others had, hit the wall right, then left, then made another crucial mistake in the labyrinth. And with that, her medal hopes were gone as she fell to tenth after three heats.
With Fräbel out of the picture, Taubitz took a lead of over seven tenths of a second into the final run. That run, like the two that preceded it, was the quickest of the heat as Taubitz slid to gold by .918 for her first Olympic medal.
After the disappointment of Beijing, the race in Cortina d’Ampezzo was a dream for Taubitz
“I was able to enjoy every run,” she told FIL media after the race. “I was actually a little nervous again before the last run. But I enjoyed everything. It was the most awesome dance of my life so far!”
lid to third place just a hair ahead of the Italian. After a great third effort by Fischnaller, the United States found itself with two sliders with a shot at medals going into the final run.
Of the medal contenders, Fischnaller was first off. A small mistake early for Fischnaller was compounded farther down the track as she had trouble throughout her final run and eventually slid to 12th place.
Hofer was next. On home ice, the Italian looked very clean and finished ahead of teammate Robatscher, but she speed wasn’t necessarily in her run and the door was open for Farquharson.
The American’s fourth and final run started clean, but early on she found herself behind Hofer. But by the third split Farquharson was ahead and pulling away. She crossed the line as the leader with only Bota and Taubitz to go to secure bronze, joining Erin Hamlin as the second women’s luge medalist for the United States.
For Farquharson, her second Olympics felt far better than her first.
“It was the first time that I felt competitive at the Olympics, so it was a lot of managing my emotions and making sure that I was ready to perform at exactly the right time,” she told USA Luge after the race. “I feel like I did a very good job. And I really, really put my game face on and threw down. When I came into the outrun and I saw the one, I knew that I guaranteed a medal. It seriously felt like I was dreaming. It did not feel real.”
Bota had the quick start in the first three heats, and pulled off the top in the fourth heat as the quickest yet again. She pulled away from Farquharson early, but throughout her run came back to the American. She crossed the line with a slower fourth downtime, but managed to hold off Farquharson to secure Latvia’s first ever medal in women’s luge with a silver.
Italy placed Hofer fourth and Robatscher fifth, with Germany’s Anna Berreiter up to sixth from eighth in the second heat.
The United States’ Summer Britcher had trouble in the first heat off the start. She was able to move up to 14th over the next three runs, a career best in the Olympic Games.
Just behind Britcher was Canada’s Embyr-Lee Susko. Susko was ninth after the first heat, but had a disastrous second heat to fall well out of the top ten. Her final two runs were better to finish in 15th, two spots ahead of teammate Trinity Ellis in 17th.
Between the two Canadians was Latvia’s Kendija Aparjode, who was 24th after the first heat due to trouble at the start. Her final three runs were eighth, eighth, and fifth quickest to move up to 16th.
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | Run 1 | Run 2 | Run 3 | Run 4 | Total |
| 1 | Julia Taubitz | GER | 1 | 52.638 | 52.550 | 52.730 | 52.707 | 3:30.625 |
| 2 | Elina Bota | LAT | 3 | 52.878 | 52.805 | 52.939 | 52.921 | 3:31.543 |
| 3 | Ashley Farquharson | USA | 16 | 52.862 | 52.934 | 52.877 | 52.909 | 3:31.582 |
| 4 | Verena Hofer | ITA | 11 | 52.861 | 52.882 | 52.977 | 52.925 | 3:31.645 |
| 5 | Sandra Robatscher | ITA | 7 | 52.886 | 52.915 | 53.026 | 52.905 | 3:31.732 |
| 6 | Anna Berreiter | GER | 10 | 53.051 | 53.004 | 53.009 | 52.946 | 3:32.010 |
| 7 | Lisa Schulte | AUT | 2 | 52.945 | 52.921 | 53.070 | 53.126 | 3:32.062 |
| 8 | Merle Fräbel | GER | 5 | 52.590 | 52.659 | 54.144 | 52.779 | 3:32.172 |
| 9 | Natalie Maag | SUI | 12 | 53.051 | 53.148 | 53.169 | 53.039 | 3:32.407 |
| 10 | Hannah Prock | AUT | 4 | 53.131 | 53.230 | 53.271 | 53.131 | 3:32.763 |
| 11 | Dorothea Schwarz | AUT | 8 | 53.595 | 53.052 | 53.080 | 53.103 | 3:32.830 |
| 12 | Emily Fischnaller | USA | 17 | 52.892 | 52.980 | 52.876 | 54.287 | 3:33.035 |
| 13 | Daria Olesik | AIN | 13 | 53.289 | 53.362 | 53.348 | 53.211 | 3:33.210 |
| 14 | Summer Britcher | USA | 6 | 53.389 | 53.225 | 53.516 | 53.423 | 3:33.553 |
| 15 | Embyr-Lee Susko | CAN | 15 | 53.028 | 54.390 | 53.294 | 53.090 | 3:33.802 |
| 16 | Kendija Aparjode | LAT | 9 | 55.059 | 52.961 | 53.049 | 52.919 | 3:33.988 |
| 17 | Trinity Ellis | CAN | 14 | 53.351 | 53.510 | 54.065 | 53.403 | 3:34.329 |
| 18 | Yulianna Tunytska | UKR | 24 | 53.713 | 53.626 | 53.884 | 53.600 | 3:34.823 |
| 19 | Tove Kohala | SWE | 25 | 54.425 | 53.615 | 53.740 | 53.708 | 3:35.488 |
| 20 | Olena Smaha | UKR | 19 | 53.619 | 54.027 | 53.678 | 54.364 | 3:35.688 |
| 21 | Peixuan Wang | CHN | 20 | 53.897 | 54.460 | 54.274 | 2:42.631 | |
| 22 | Veronica Ravenna | ARG | 23 | 54.038 | 54.517 | 54.341 | 2:42.896 | |
| 23 | Klaudia Domaradzka | POL | 21 | 54.663 | 54.310 | 54.365 | 2:43.338 | |
| 24 | Hyesun Jung | KOR | 18 | 55.118 | 54.469 | 54.194 | 2:43.781 | |
| 25 | Ioana-Corina Buzatoiu | ROU | 22 | 54.062 | 55.786 | 54.418 | 2:44.266 |