The last time Sue Sweeney and her husband Larry had two luge athletes in the family to cheer for was in 2009 when they lived in Suffield and their daughters Emily and Megan were battling each other for the last spot on the U.S. Olympic team headed to Vancouver.
Megan beat out the younger Emily – who was 16 at the time – for the final spot for the 2010 team. After the Olympics, Megan retired from the sport and Emily went on to become a two-time Olympian (2018, 2022).
This winter, Emily and her husband, Italian luge athlete and Olympic bronze medalist Dominik Fischnaller are both hoping to be competing at the Olympics in Italy in February.
So the Sweeneys, who now live in Saranac Lake, N.Y., have a daughter and son-in-law to cheer for and they have a trip to the Milano-Cortina Olympics planned. The Olympics run from Feb. 6-22.
The U.S. Olympic luge team will be announced on Jan. 12.
On Friday in Lake Placid, N.Y., Emily, 32, had 30 family members to cheer her on at a World Cup at the luge track at Mt. Van Hoevenberg. Emily was in first place after the first run on what is considered her home track, as she grew up sliding there, but dropped just off the podium to fourth place after her second run Friday night.
The American women (Summer Britcher, Ashley Farquharson and Fischnaller) finished 2-3-4 in the competition, which was won by Germany’s Julia Taubitz, the 2022 Olympic gold medalist.
With the top five finish, Fischnaller, who won the bronze at the World Championships earlier this year, has achieved Tier A status, which means she has earned an Olympic nomination, along with Britcher and Farquharson.
Despite that, Fischnaller was “disappointed, for sure,” her mother said.
“Things didn’t turn out as she planned but she did great,” Sue said Sunday. “Nothing wrong with fourth in the world.
“She’s been so close. It just hasn’t come together for her yet. But it’s going to.”
It was the second straight week that Fischnaller had dropped out of medal contention in the second round. Fischnaller was in second place at the World Cup at Park City, Utah last weekend after the first round but dropped to 13th on her second run.
“Last week was pretty brutal to be in second, then to have such a big mistake,” Fischnaller said last Thursday before the Lake Placid World Cup. “That felt like a really big missed opportunity.
“I just went for it and it doesn’t always work out. The pressure is definitely on.”
Fischnaller was born in Maine but grew up in Suffield. She has been on a luge sled since she was 10 years old, following her older sister’s lead. In 2009, she had to race Megan in Lillehammer, Norway for a spot on the team and Megan beat her by 2/10ths of a second.
She made her first Olympic team in 2018 in South Korea, but in her last run on the PyeongChang luge track, something went terribly wrong and Fischnaller crashed as her parents and sister watched in horror. She broke bones in her back and neck, sprained her ankle and had a concussion. That was in February.
Sue Sweeney, left, the mother of Emily Sweeney of the United States, cries out as her daughter crashes on the final run during the women’s luge final at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2018.
She was able to return to competition that December and won a bronze medal in her first World Cup in Whistler, British Columbia.
In 2022, she finished in 26th place at the Olympics in Beijing.
“I kind of separate my time as (a luge athlete) pre-2018 and post 2018,” Fischnaller said. “Now I train differently. I’m stronger in different ways. I’m much more efficient now.
“I was 7 when I decided I wanted to be an Olympian. I don’t know if I thought I’d be doing it this long.”
Emily and Dominik were married in February. She said it helps to have a partner who knows exactly what she is going through on and off the ice.
Emily Sweeney of Suffield slides during the Luge Women’s Singles run 3 on day four of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games at Olympic Sliding Centre on February 13, 2018 in Pyeongchang-gun, South Korea.
“We definitely talk about luge, but there are times let’s separate from that and talk about life things,” she said. “I’m usually the one that says that.”
Dominik finished fourth in Park City and seventh in Lake Placid. On Sunday, the Fischnallers headed to Italy, where they will spend Christmas in their house in the mountains of northern Italy. Then they will head to the next World Cup Jan. 3-4 in Sigulda, Latvia. The next weekend in Winterburg, Germany will be the final qualifying World Cup for the U.S. team.
Fischnaller said her motivation to make the Olympic team has changed over the years.
“Now, it’s the opportunity for an Olympic medal,” she said Thursday. “After I wrecked myself, I didn’t want to walk away because I was afraid. That was my motivation then. I proved to myself I could do it and now we’re back and now I want the opportunity for a medal.”