From Whistler, CAN
(December 15, 2023) – Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt came from behind on Friday evening to win their first gold medal of the 2023/2024 World Cup season.
The duo trailed the duo of Thomas Steu and Wolfgang Kindl, racing in their second full race weekend as a team, with Germans Hannes Orlamünder and Paul Gubitz sitting in third.
In the second heat, Orlamünder and Gubitz took the lead from Italians Ivan Nagler and Fabian Malleier to secure at least one medal for Germany. They were quickly overrun by teammates Wendl and Arlt with just the Austrians to go.
Steu and Kindl’s Achilles heel so far has been their start times, which have trended toward the back half of the field. Their second start was .066 slower than Wendl and Alrt, and that plus a small mistake early in their run relegated the Austrians to silver, with Wendl and Arlt taking their first gold of the season.
Steu and Kindl’s silver kept them on the podium, just ahead of Orlamünder and Gubitz, who finished third.
Nagler and Malleier took fourth, while Yannick Müller and Armin Frauscher rounded out the top five.
It was tough sledding for the North Americans in Whistler. Home track sliders Devin Wardrope and Cole Zajanski finished 12th, one spot ahead of the United States’ Zack DiGregorio and Sean Hollander.
The American duo had a good run going in the first heat but a skid late set them back to tenth. More trouble in the second run in nearly the same spot dropped them to 13th.
Marcus Mueller and Ansel Haugsjaa made their World Cup debut for the United States with a 17th place finish after a decent first run.
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
| 1 | Wendl / Arlt | GER | 19 | 3.267 | 3.274 | 38.668 | 38.632 | 1:17.300 |
| 2 | Steu / Kindl | AUT | 12 | 3.326 | 3.340 | 38.624 | 38.754 | 1:17.378 |
| 3 | Orlamünder / Gubitz | GER | 20 | 3.300 | 3.292 | 38.713 | 38.692 | 1:17.405 |
| 4 | Nagler / Malleier | ITA | 8 | 3.270 | 3.269 | 38.730 | 38.778 | 1:17.508 |
| 5 | Müller / Frauscher | AUT | 10 | 3.317 | 3.317 | 38.758 | 38.783 | 1:17.541 |
| 6 | Bots / Plume | LAT | 18 | 3.302 | 3.311 | 38.780 | 38.769 | 1:17.549 |
| 7 | Chmielewski / Kowalewski | POL | 11 | 3.298 | 3.293 | 38.848 | 38.920 | 1:17.768 |
| 8 | Jäger / Steudte | GER | 7 | 3.312 | 3.335 | 38.892 | 38.911 | 1:17.803 |
| 9 | Rieder / Kainzwaldner | ITA | 17 | 3.313 | 3.307 | 38.958 | 38.858 | 1:17.816 |
| 10 | Sevics-Mikelsevics / Krasts | LAT | 9 | 3.322 | 3.316 | 38.920 | 38.917 | 1:17.837 |
| 11 | Gatt / Schöpf | AUT | 16 | 3.273 | 3.300 | 39.216 | 38.760 | 1:17.976 |
| 12 | Wardrope / Zajanski | CAN | 4 | 3.346 | 3.349 | 38.996 | 39.050 | 1:18.046 |
| 13 | DiGregorio / Hollander | USA | 15 | 3.280 | 3.294 | 38.949 | 39.140 | 1:18.089 |
| 14 | Vavercak / Zmij | SVK | 14 | 3.309 | 3.326 | 39.081 | 39.051 | 1:18.132 |
| 15 | Park / Cho | KOR | 5 | 3.339 | 3.372 | 39.085 | 39.107 | 1:18.192 |
| 16 | Rieder / Gufler | ITA | 3 | 3.327 | 3.316 | 39.177 | 39.032 | 1:18.209 |
| 17 | Mueller / Haugsjaa | USA | 6 | 3.303 | 3.295 | 39.016 | 39.462 | 1:18.478 |
| 18 | Gitlan / Serban | ROU | 2 | 3.339 | 3.372 | 39.453 | 39.289 | 1:18.742 |
| 19 | Hoi / Kachmar | UKR | 1 | 3.413 | 3.392 | 39.840 | 39.532 | 1:19.372 |
| 20 | Handaric / Motzcz | ROU | 13 | 3.431 | 3.440 | 39.993 | 39.890 | 1:19.883 |
