Degenhardt & Rosenthal Win Sigulda Gold

From Sigulda, LAT

(February 24, 2024) – While it wasn’t quite as tight as the men’s race just before it, the women’s doubles race in Sigulda was tight with Germany’s Jessica Degenhardt and Cheyenne Rosenthal edging out Italy’s Andrea Vötter and Marion Oberhofer for gold.

The Germans led the Italians by .118 after the first heat, with the second German team in Dajana Eitberger and Saskia Schirmer sitting in third.

In the second heat, Eitberger and Schirmer took the lead from Austria’s Selina Egle and Lara Kipp, with the advantage nearly two tenths of a second. Up next were Vötter and Ooberhofer, who couldn’t quite match the single-heat time set by Eitberger and Schirmer but had enough banked in the first run to take the lead.

That left Degenhardt and Rosenthal, who entered the race 15 points behind Vötter and Oberhofer and were looking to tie things up in the overall points. They were out-started by the Italian duo, and while their second slide wasn’t quite as quick as Vötter and Oberhofer they did keep it close enough to hold on for victory by .085.

The win for Degenhardt and Rosenthal was their fourth of the season, while the silver for Vötter and Oberhofer was their fifth.

For Eitberger and Schirmer, in their first year together, their bronze medal was their third straight and seventh in ten races.

Egle and Kipp finished fourth, ahead of Americans Chevonne Forgan and Sophie Kirkby in fifth, while Latvians Viktorija Ziedina and Selina Zvilna took sixth.

Degenhardt and Rosenthal tied up the battle for the season title with their victory, equal with Vötter and Oberhofer. Eitberger and Schirmer are third, and Egle and Kipp fourth. Those four are the four teams who can still realistically win a season title. Forgan and Kirkby sit solidly in the top five.

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