From Sigulda, LAT
(January 14, 2023) – The location was the same as a week ago, but the track and the racing couldn’t have been any different. With warm temperatures and slower ice came a new leaderboard in the doubles luge competition, and when things were said and done it was Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt atop the podium.
The German duo ended their first run in third place behind track record holders Martins Bots and Roberts Plume and their teammates Eduards Sevics-Mikelsevics and Lukass Krasts, with all three teams within a tenth of a second of each other.
Oh the second run the Germans were about as perfect as they could be and set the quick downtime of the cmpetition. Sevics-Mikelsevics and Krasts were next and one little correction late in their run set them back behind the six-time Olympic gold medalists.
That left track record holders Bots and Plume. The Latvians just couldn’t quite match the pace of the Germans, and as they crossed the finish line found themselves .062 back for silver, giving Wendl and Arlt the gold.
The win was the second for Wendl and Arlt on the season, while the silver for Bots and Plume is their second straight in two races in Sigulda.
For Sevics-Mikelsevics and Krasts, the bronze medal was their first at the World Cup level.
One week ago the Austrians struggled throughout the field, with only the Gleirschers having any sort of luck. On the slower, softer ice Austria found their groove. Juri Gatt and Riccardo Schöpf finished fourth, while Germany’s Toni Eggert and Sascha Benecken finished fifth. Italy’s Emanuel Rieder and Simon Kainzwaldner rounded out the top six.
USA’s Zack Digregorio and Sean Hollander finsihed eighth for the fourth time this season, while Canada’s Devin Wardrope and Cole Zajanski just missed out on a top ten in 11th. USA’s Dana Kellogg and Duncan Segger finished 17th and will be happy to be leaving Sigulda.
With a handful of races left to go in the season, Wendl and Alrt hold a slim margin over Eggert and Benecken. Gatt and Schöpf are third, five points ahead of Bots and Plume in fourth.
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
| 1 | Wendl / Arlt | GER | 18 | 1.529 | 1.524 | 42.173 | 41.849 | 1:24.022 |
| 2 | Bots / Plume | LAT | 16 | 1.532 | 1.532 | 42.138 | 41.946 | 1:24.048 |
| 3 | Sevics-Mikelsevics / Krasts | LAT | 9 | 1.525 | 1.520 | 42.147 | 41.964 | 1:24.111 |
| 4 | Gatt / Schöpf | AUT | 15 | 1.554 | 1.551 | 42.317 | 41.899 | 1:24.218 |
| 5 | Eggert / Benecken | GER | 17 | 1.536 | 1.537 | 42.347 | 41.944 | 1:24.291 |
| 6 | Rieder / Kainzwaldner | ITA | 12 | 1.526 | 1.531 | 42.311 | 42.044 | 1:24.355 |
| 7 | Steu / Koller | AUT | 7 | 1.531 | 1.556 | 42.205 | 42.151 | 1:24.356 |
| 8 | Digregorio / Hollander | USA | 14 | 1.574 | 1.572 | 42.317 | 42.098 | 1:24.415 |
| 9 | Müller / Frauscher | AUT | 5 | 1.551 | 1.463 | 42.532 | 42.018 | 1:24.550 |
| 10 | Rieder / Rastner | ITA | 10 | 1.502 | 1.504 | 42.522 | 42.142 | 1:24.664 |
| 11 | Wardrope / Zajanski | CAN | 8 | 1.575 | 1.571 | 42.712 | 42.793 | 1:25.505 |
| 12 | Hoi / Levkovych | UKR | 3 | 1.679 | 1.608 | 42.936 | 42.856 | 1:25.792 |
| 13 | Chmielewski / Kowalewski | POL | 11 | 1.597 | 1.570 | 43.694 | 42.396 | 1:26.090 |
| 14 | Vejdelek / Pekny | CZE | 2 | 1.701 | 1.660 | 43.289 | 42.833 | 1:26.122 |
| 15 | Huang / Peng | CHN | 1 | 1.595 | 1.576 | 43.170 | 43.014 | 1:26.184 |
| 16 | Orlamünder / Gubitz | GER | 13 | 1.582 | 1.576 | 44.752 | 42.481 | 1:27.233 |
| 17 | Kellogg / Segger | USA | 6 | 1.631 | 1.592 | 43.943 | 43.553 | 1:27.496 |
| 18 | Vavercak / Zmij | SVK | 4 | 1.560 | 1.544 | 70.285 | 42.946 | 1:53.231 |
