USA Luge's Emily Sweeney could call multiple states in the Northeast her home. While she spent significant time in Maine and Connecticut, she often attributes her hometown to Lake Placid, New York. It is a small mountain town known primarily for two things – hosting the 1980 Winter Olympic Games and a comically bad horror movie starring Bill Pullman, Betty White and a man-eating crocodile.
However, it’s also where the two-time Olympian and 17-year USA Luge veteran could argue she spent most of her childhood, given that she would “shuttle up” to the sliding complex atop Mt. Van Hovenberg for week-long camps with her older sister, Megan, who was Emily’s initial inspiration for wanting to join the sport and became an Olympian herself in 2010.
Soon after, Sweeney’s week-long camps transformed into camps lasting two weeks, then four. Out of those camps, a personal challenge began to form in Sweeney’s mind. She began chasing a professional luger’s most prized mythical possession – perfection. Almost 20 years later, her pursuit happily remains the same.
For those unfamiliar, luge is a time-based sport where athletes strive to shave milliseconds off their high-octane runs while sliding down an icy track. Whether it involves finding more speed or discovering a better entry into a corner, there is a constant belief among lugers that a newer, faster line they’ve yet to discover is lurking out there. It’s a sport where a world-record time sets a new mark of human achievement.
“I love the pursuit of that perfect run,” Sweeney smiled when speaking on her sport. “But the reality is, after 20 years, you’re never going to have that ‘perfect run.’ Because even when you have your fastest run, it’s never ‘perfect.’
“I love the process of, ‘Okay, I’ll go back up and try it again.’”
Sweeney’s own story of pursuing perfection began at age 10 and has been fueled by both milestones and setbacks. She first appeared on the FIL Luge World Cup circuit in 2009. In 2010, she nearly upset her sister for a spot on the Vancouver Olympic Team. The duo needed a head-to-head race-off, where Megan ultimately emerged victorious.
Three years later, Sweeney became a junior world champion. Eventually, she claimed a world cup gold in 2017 in Winterburg, Germany. In 2018, she experienced perhaps her biggest setback of all – a frightening crash that interrupted her debut Olympic appearance in PyeongChang. The results of the wreck were substantial: a broken neck and a broken back. Even still, she knew she had more left in the tank. She explained that her reason for returning was “twofold.”
“I have this annoying thing that if I doubt myself, I have to see it through,” she said. “I have to prove to myself that I can do it. So, part of it was motivated by self-doubt.”
The second half of the equation involved a staple coach of USA Luge, Klim Gatker. The longtime coach has been a part of USA Luge’s coaching staff since 1998.
“Coach Klim has always told me that once you do something once, you’ll always do it again,” Sweeney explained. “That sounds so basic. But, he said it for positive and negative things. Like, if you skip a set on that last exercise on your program, you’ll probably skip it again. But, if you get through that curve (on a track), you’ll probably get through it again.”
Sweeney stated that Gatker’s phrase “ruminated” in her mind throughout the recovery process.
“For the first time (in my career) I was genuinely afraid of something,” Sweeney began. “I was afraid to slide again. So, I thought to myself, ‘What would happen if I walked away from (luge), if I let that fear win? What else in my life would I walk away from?’”
Sweeney’s perseverance since that moment resulted in clarity, more world cup medals, another Olympic appearance in 2022 and her name in the USA Luge history books. In early February 2025, she claimed her second career world championship medal, becoming just the second American luger in history to have more than one career medal in singles competition. Now, she has her eyes set on the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games. While she still needs to compete in world cup competitions and a rigorous team trials, she is considered to be a favorite to make the roster.
The ongoing situation regarding the usability of Italy’s sliding center for the Olympic Winter Games is causing a stir for some, but not for Sweeney. Regardless of the outcome, Sweeney said these Games would “feel like a giant home race” to her. Should the sliding portion of Milan-Cortina 2026 be moved to a different location, Lake Placid appears to be the first option. That decision would mean the Lake Placid native would have home-track advantage for luge’s biggest stage. However, if the dedicated workers finish renovations and the center passes inspection, she’ll get to compete in her soon-to-be country of residence.
Sweeney’s longtime partner is Olympic bronze medalist Dominik Fischnaller of Team Italy. The duo originally met at a competition when they were just teenagers, and are now recently engaged and building a house together in Italy. In January, FIL Luge published a short movie about their relationship.
“I couldn’t ask for someone better than Dominik,” Sweeney said of her fiancé. “We’re so different. But, the way we complement and understand each other is really great.
“We understand that we both have these big goals we’ve been working on for so long. And outside of that, it’s so nice to be able to step away and just be a person with each other.”
Sweeney happily added that she is in the process of learning German, which is Fischnaller’s first language. His hometown is in the northernmost part of Italy, where German is the predominant language.
If both Sweeney and Fischnaller make their respective national teams, both will certainly be on lists of potential medal contenders. But, while Italy has a storied history of medaling in luge thanks to Armin Zoeggler’s run of dominance from 1994-2014, Sweeney has a chance to provide Team USA with a more historic moment.
To date, only two Americans have ever secured an Olympic medal in luge. Erin Hamlin earned the first-ever Olympic medal in luge for the U.S. at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games (bronze), while Chris Mazdzer claimed silver in 2018. So, when asked about the significance of potentially winning an Olympic medal, Sweeney took a team-first mentality to her answer, just as any veteran would do.
“I think I have a pretty healthy outlook on what medals are,” she began. “I have a lot of friends who are Olympic medalists and say they’re life-changing, but only for about a month. Then, they’re not.
“But, I want that one-month experience. I want to ride the wave that comes with that. But, I also want that for my organization. I want USA Luge to have that medal. I want Team USA to want that medal. I want that for them.”
Brendan Rourke is a digital sports media creator who works with Team USA and the USOPC. Previously, he spent three seasons writing for the NBA's Indiana Pacers, holds a Bachelor's from UCF and a Master's from IU-Indy's Sports Capital Journalism Program.
