Egle & Kipp Win Women’s Doubles Gold

From Igls, AUT

(December 3, 2022) – The FIL World Cup brought the women’s doubles discipline into the main tour this season, with the season opener being held in Igls.

On their home ice the team of Selina Egle and Lara Kipp set a track record in the first heat with a 40.021 despite a sloppy bottom half of the track. On the second run they became the first ever women’s duo to crack 40 seconds with a 39.998. Those two runs put them .176 ahead of anyone else.

Germany’s Jessica Degenhardt and Cheynne Rosenthal, the defending world champions, set two quick runs of their own to win silver on the strength of two starts that rivaled the new track start record.

Italian women’s singes veterans Andrea Vötter and Marion Oberhofer slid to a bronze medal on what’s currently their home track. They entered the second heat only .001 back behind the Germans but were unable to keep up with the world champions, but still won their first world cup duos medal.

Like the track record, the start record was lowered considerably in this race and now belongs to the Latvian team of Anda Upite and Sanija Ozolina. Their first heat start of a 2.101 was .018 quicker than the record set a day prior by Americans Summer Britcher and Emily Sweeney, and enough to keep them just ahead of the American team.

For Britcher and Sweeney, a team with over 30 singles medals between them, a fifth place finish was a great start to the doubles season that they had just announced they would be racing just a few weeks ago.

Nadia Falkensteiner and Annalena Huber of Italy rounded out the top six.

The United States was the only team with three sleds in the event. Maya Chan and Reannyn Weiler finished seventh, one spot ahead of Chevonne Rogan and Sophia Kirkby in eighth.

Results: