Ashley Farquharson got her start in luge through a Youth Sports Alliance after-school program when she was 11 years old.
The program was started after the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City to increase the number of kids involved in winter sports and continue the Games’ legacy in the area.
“They just took us up to the track every week for a month or so, and gave us some elbow pads and sent us down the hill,” Farquharson said. “My older brother had actually started a couple years prior to me, and I thought it was the coolest thing ever.”
It was a non-traditional start compared to other luge athletes across the world. Others are often recruited through events where ramps are set up on asphalt in various towns. Kids who show potential are then invited to luge camps.
In luge competitions, athletes compete on ice using the same track as bobsled. Racers start in a seated position and push off the starting line using their arms. They go down feet first, using their shoulders and feet to steer the sled.
Farquharson said without the Youth Sports Alliance, she would likely never have tried luge. But she started competing on the world stage at just 16 and now at 26, she holds multiple international titles and competed in the 2022 Olympics.
She joined other Park City natives, like speedskater Casey Dawson and alpine skier Jared Shumate, on the global stage.
“Me and Casey Dawson and Jared Shumate were like, the first YSA kids to go to the Olympics, and everyone was freaking out, and now there's so many of us, so it's pretty cool to see all that come to fruition,” Farquharson said.
Now, Farquharson is aiming to get to the Olympics again — and she says this year is different.
For the 2022 Beijing Olympics, Farquharson said she wasn’t a shoo-in and had to work hard to earn her spot in the Games. COVID-19 pandemic protocols were also still in place, which made competing more difficult.
Now, she’s one of the top picks to compete in Italy come February.
Farquharson said athletes tested out the 2026 Olympic track in November, as Games organizers are required to let racers have at least 36 runs before competitions. However, the track took longer than expected to be constructed.
“The main country that it affected was Italy. It really threw away what would have been a home track advantage, because the Italian athletes have not had the amount of training on it that they normally would get in a situation like this,” Farquharson said.
Farquharson likens her sport to Formula 1 racing. That’s because both follow the same racing schedule, including a travel day, a couple of days of training, a bib race, then a real race.
The sled designs, like F1 car designs, are also top secret.
“Everyone covers their sleds because other coaches will literally come up and take a picture of your sled, to like, measure angles,” Farquharson said. “Our sleds are fully custom-built by us, and our research and development program is constantly at full speed trying to make our sleds faster.”
She said the U.S. luge team recently partnered with NASCAR to work on aerodynamics. They have ice scientists studying different materials and coatings to put on sled blades to determine how to reduce friction on a molecular level.
“We're fighting for thousands of a second, and I personally have been off the podium by thousands of a second on several occasions,” Farquharson said.
The last qualifying event for luge is January 17, after which the 2026 U.S. Olympic luge team athletes will be named. Farquharson is hoping to not only compete in Italy, but take home a medal.
And with the Winter Olympics coming back to Utah in 2034, Farquharson said she can’t rule out trying to make those Games as well.
“It would just be so awesome, such a cool, full circle moment to get to compete here where I started,” she said.
While Farquharson would be 34 at the time of those Games, many luge athletes remain top competitors into their 30s as it’s an experience-based sport.
