Claim: In 2009, Erin Hamlin placed first at the FIL World Luge Championships held in Lake Placid, New York, and it made her the first American to win a world championship in  Luge World Cup.
Evidence: Hamlin set the track record in the second run to become the first non-European and the first American to medal in the women's singles luge event at the Winter Olympic or world championship level. The Luge World Cup season is a yearly competition first organized by the International Luge Federation since 1977–78.