Winter Olympics 2026: Max Langenhan leads after opening runs of men’s singles luge competition

Max Langenhan sets the tone early

Langenham arrived at Milano Cortina in fine form, sitting third in the men’s World Cup standings and fresh off of two medals at the 2026 European Championships (gold in mixed singles, bronze in singles). The 26-year-old is a six-time world champion, but is seeking his first Olympic medal following his Games debut at Beijing 2022, where he finished sixth.

The German wasted no time in making his mark on the competition; as the first competitor on track, Langenhan produced a near-faultless run to set the track record, and proceeded to give himself some breathing room over Mueller with an even faster effort in his second attempt (52.902) to comfortably sit in the gold medal position.

“I woke up at 4a.m. with a stiff neck and thought I might not race,” he said following the day’s racing. “The physio and doctors did an amazing job.

“The start wasn’t that good, also both runs had some small mistakes, but I’m happy with the good start to the first day of the Olympics.”