Emily Carolyn Sweeney (born November 28, 1993) is an American

luge A luge is a small one- or two-person sled on which one sleds supine (face up) and feet-first. A luger steers by using the calf muscles to flex the sled's runners or by exerting opposite shoulder pressure to the seat. Racing sleds weigh for s ...

r. She is the sister of fellow luger Megan Sweeney.

Luge career

During the 2009 World Cup season, Sweeney became Junior World Luge Champion and took bronze medals at the Junior World Cup at

Winterberg Winterberg ( Westphalian: ''Winnenmerg'') is a town in the Hochsauerland district of North Rhine-Westphalia, central Germany and a major winter sport resort of the Wintersport Arena Sauerland. Geography Winterberg is located in the middle of ...

, Germany and a gold medal at

Park City Park City may refer to: a city in Utah. Places * National Park City, London, England, UK; see parks and open spaces in London in the United States * Park City, Illinois * Park City, Kansas * Park City, Kentucky * Park City, Montana * Park City, ...

, Utah. In December 2015, during World Cup competition on their home track in Lake Placid, Sweeney and teammates

Erin Hamlin Erin Mullady Hamlin (born 19 November 1986) is a four-time Olympian and the first female American luger to medal at any Winter Olympics, as well as the first American of either gender to medal in luge singles competition and the first non-Eur ...

and Summer Britcher swept the field. It marked the first time the U.S. women knocked out the dominant German team. On November 26, 2017, she won her first World Cup gold medal in the sprint race at Winterberg. Emily Sweeney was selected as a member of the 2018 USA Olympic Team. At the Pyongchang Games, her first Olympics, Sweeney crashed on her final run, losing control at turn 12 of the Alpensia track after "(catching) a good amount of air" when entering the corner. The neck and back fractures she suffered were figured out some days later. Nine months after her accident, she came back and won a bronze medal at a World Cup race in

Whistler, British Columbia Whistler ( Lillooet/Ucwalmícwts: Cwitima, ; Squamish/Sḵwx̱wú7mesh: Sḵwiḵw, ) is a resort municipality in Squamish-Lillooet Regional District, British Columbia, Canada. It is located in the southern Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mounta ...

. In 2019, she won a bronze medal in the women's singles competition at the

2019 FIL World Luge Championships The 2019 FIL World Luge Championships took place under the auspices of the International Luge Federation at the Winterberg bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track in Winterberg, Germany from 25 to 27 January 2019. Schedule Five events were held. M ...

in Winterberg.

Military career

According to Sweeney, she was inspired to join the

Army National Guard The Army National Guard (ARNG), in conjunction with the Air National Guard, is an organized Militia (United States), militia force and a Reserve components of the United States Armed Forces, federal military reserve force of the United States A ...

by hearing her grandfather, Jack Sweeney, tell stories about his time in the Navy. She enlisted as a military policewoman and attended basic and advanced individual training at the US Army Military Police School on

Fort Leonard Wood Fort Leonard Wood is a U.S. Army training installation located in the Missouri Ozarks. The main gate is located on the southern boundary of The City of St. Robert. The post was created in December 1940 and named in honor of General Leonard Woo ...

, Missouri. She graduated with honors. After initial training, she joined the

U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program The U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program (WCAP) is a military unit whose primary mission is to support nationally and internationally ranked soldiers in participating on the U.S. Olympic team. The program is headquartered at Fort Carson, Colora ...

. She served in the

New York Army National Guard The New York Army National Guard is a component of the New York National Guard and the Army National Guard. Nationwide, the Army National Guard comprises approximately one half of the United States Army's available combat forces and approximat ...

with the 206th Military Police Company and the Joint Force Headquarters in New York. She was a sergeant.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sweeney, Emily 1993 births Living people American female lugers American military Olympians American military police officers Olympic lugers of the United States Lugers at the 2018 Winter Olympics Lugers at the 2022 Winter Olympics New York National Guard personnel Sportspeople from Portland, Maine United States Army non-commissioned officers 21st-century American women U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program