When teammate and fellow Park City luger Ashley Farquharson finished with what was then the fastest time in the women’s singles sprint World Cup event Saturday afternoon at the Utah Olympic Park, Brittney Arndt knew she had a challenge on her hands.
Arndt responded by edging Farquharson out with a time of 31.902 seconds to take the lead. It held up as the third-fastest run of the event, giving the Park City luger her first podium finish on the World Cup circuit.
“I’m just stoked,” Arndt said. “All my family is here. I’m just so happy. I’ve been close to the podium in Lake Placid before. But I was young, and it’s been a couple of hard years for me. I made a lot of changes this year for myself, and this backs all of that.”
Arndt’s third-place finish in the sprint race capped off a successful day of women’s singles luge for the United States. Emily Sweeney, Arndt and Farquharson all finished in the top 10 in both women’s singles races on Saturday, led by Sweeney’s second-place result earlier on Saturday. All three women are in the top 10 of the overall World Cup standings after last weekend’s performances.
“I was actually a little nervous because I only had three training runs this week,” Sweeney said. “I only took three training runs. I was a little not completely set about one curve. But I just let myself let my body do it. I know what to do at this point.”
In the first women’s singles race, Farquharson and Arndt were neck-and-neck, finishing sixth and seventh after the first run, respectively. Arndt stayed in seventh after her second and final run, but a couple of mistakes by Farquharson dropped her to ninth.
Since both women finished in the top 15 out of the 31 in the field, they qualified for the sprint World Cup race held that afternoon, giving them one more run in front of their friends and family. That was important for Farquharson. Park City hadn’t hosted a luge World Cup event since 2016 before last weekend.
“A lot of (my family) have never seen me slide, so that was very cool,” she said. “My parents haven’t gotten to come to a World Cup in — ever, actually. So, I think they were really, really excited as well.”
It was only fitting then that the two Park City sliders were in the top two for much of the sprint World Cup event. Farquharson and Arndt had the opportunity to spend some time in the leader’s box together. They were eventually dethroned, but it was a special moment for both.
“For quite a while, that was the first time that that had happened for the two of us, so that was very cool, especially at home,” Farquharson said.
The two started what would turn into a career in luge together at the Utah Olympic Park years ago, and they continue to support each other.
“Ashley and I are great friends,” Arndt said. “We’ve traveled forever together, and it’s awesome. We’re always so happy for each other. I texted her this morning because I didn’t stay with the team, I’m at my apartment. I just said, ‘Hey, I love you. We got this today. I’m so proud of you, and we can do this.’ We have a great relationship. I’m happy about that as Park City girls.”
Arndt took some time off from the sport after missing out on going to the Olympics earlier this year, and she decided to move back home to Park City after spending the last several years in Lake Placid, New York.
“I just spent a lot of time outside and doing other stuff and then started training a little bit later,” Arndt said. “I don’t know, I’m just a lot happier, so I think that’s helped me a lot.”
When it all came full circle for Arndt on Saturday in Park City, it confirmed to her what she’s capable of.
“It’s reassuring for me, and I’ve always known that I can have the speed,” Arndt said. “It’s just I had a hard time putting that together, so this has been a great weekend for me. I’m very happy.”
The pressure was on for Arndt when she had to follow up Farquharson’s run, and she delivered. But she had to wait at the bottom afterward and watch an agonizingly long list of the best sliders in the world to see where she ended up.
“(Ashley) threw down a pretty quick run, and I was like, ‘Alright, I’ve got to pick it up,’” Arndt said. “When I came down here, I knew it was a fast run. I was happy with it, but I didn’t know it was that fast. Just watching the sleds go down and go down, I was stressed out.”
What was the highlight of the weekend for one Park City slider was heartbreak for another, as Farquharson barely missed out on her first podium finish in an individual event at the World Cup level. But she came away feeling positive about the weekend as a whole.
“We’re all knocking on the door, so to speak,” she said. “I think it’s really promising. To not have the World Cup here in so many years and then perform, I think it was really nice.
“Just off the podium, but I was really happy with my run, so not much more you can do at that point.”