Eitberger & Schirmer Win First World Cup Gold

From Oberhof, GER

(February 17, 2024)  – In one of the tightest races we’ve seen all season on the FIL World Cup tour, Dajana Eitberger and Saskia Schirmer won their first gold medal as a team as they held off the two best teams on tour this season.

Eitberger and Schirmer trailed teammates Jessica Degehardt and Cheyenne Rosenthal and Italians Andrea Vötter and Marion Oberhofer after the first run. Behind them, Latvians Anda Upite and Kitija Bogdanova and Austrians Selina Egle and Lara Kipp were both in the hunt for medals as well, only .025 behind the Germans.

In the second heat Egle and Kipp leapfrogged Upite and Bogdanova to hold onto the lead with the top three to go. Up next were Eitberger and Schirmer. Like most everyone else in the heat, the duo were slower than in their first run but were still quick enough to take the lead handily from the Austrians.

Vötter and Oberhofer had a great slide, but crossed the finish line .008 behind Eitberger and Schirmer to guarantee themselves a medal with only Degenhardt and Rosenthal to go.

Degenhardt and Rosenthal had set the track record in the first heat, and while they had an otherwise clean run in the second heat, they crossed the finish line in third place, only .009 behind the leaders and .001 behind Vötter and Oberhoer.

Eitberger and Schirmer’s win was their first as a duo, and fifth medal in eight races. Vötter and Oberhofer’s silver was their second straight and fourth in five races, with a gold medal in between four silvers. For Degenhardt and Rosenthal, the bronze was their first of the year after scoring four gold medals in their previous five races.

Egle and Kipp finished fourth, .23 off of the podium and well ahead of Upite and Bogdanova in fifth.

The United States finished sixth and seventh, with Chevonne Forgan and Sophie Kirkby beating out teammates Maya Chan and Reannyn Weiler.

With four races left to go in the 2023/2024 World Cup season, Vötter and Oberhofer hold a five point lead over Degenhardt and Rosenthal. Eitberger and Schirmer are third, with Egle and Kipp fourth and Forgan and Kirkby fifth.

Results: