From Winterleiten, AUT
(December 21, 2025) – Fabian Achenrainer and Alex Oberhofer did something that’s rarely been seen in Alpine Luge over the years: Tied for gold.
Achenrainer led Oberhofer after one run by just .13, with the remainder of the field well back and while the FIL Alpine Luge World Cup races can go any which way, the battle for gold was between those two.
Oberhofer was the first of the leaders off the top in the second heat. His start was a hundredth quicker, and his slide was nearly perfect as he took the lead over a half of a second ahead of the previous day’s winner, Daniel Gruber.
Achenrainer was the last slider off the top and was looking for a golden sweep for Austria in Sunday’s racing. His start was .03 quicker than Oberhofer’s and he had a great top part of the track to go with it. However, Oberhofer was stronger at the bottom half of the track and Achenrainer began to bleed time, eventually crossing the finish line with his .13 second lead evaporated and in a dead heat with Oberhofer.
Not only did the duo share gold, but it was also the first win for either athlete on the World Cup circuit.
Gruber was third, with Matthias Troger and Hannes Unterholzner fourth and fifth.
USA’s Torrey Cookman was unable to match his previous day’s effort and finished 17th, with Mason Palecek 21st.
Two races into the World Cup season and it’s a logjam atop the standings. Gruber leads Achenrainer by ten points, with Oberhofer 15 out of the lead and Unterholzner just 30 points back.
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
| 1 | Alex Oberhofer | ITA | 36 | 2.79 | 2.78 | 60.68 | 60.82 | 2:01.50 |
| 1 | Fabian Achenrainer | AUT | 35 | 2.79 | 2.75 | 60.55 | 60.95 | 2:01.50 |
| 3 | Daniel Gruber | ITA | 30 | 2.75 | 2.74 | 61.02 | 61.01 | 2:02.03 |
| 4 | Mathias Troger | ITA | 14 | 2.84 | 2.83 | 60.97 | 61.23 | 2:02.20 |
| 5 | Hannes Unterholzner | ITA | 19 | 2.75 | 2.73 | 60.99 | 61.27 | 2:02.26 |
| 6 | Sebastian Feldhammer | AUT | 32 | 2.83 | 2.83 | 61.92 | 61.66 | 2:03.58 |
| 7 | Žiga Kralj | SLO | 34 | 2.92 | 2.91 | 62.12 | 61.74 | 2:03.86 |
| 8 | Vincent Streit | GER | 27 | 2.88 | 2.88 | 62.09 | 62.19 | 2:04.28 |
| 9 | Leon Auer | AUT | 24 | 2.75 | 2.75 | 61.88 | 62.42 | 2:04.30 |
| 10 | Vid Kralj | SLO | 33 | 2.82 | 2.84 | 62.25 | 62.10 | 2:04.35 |
| 11 | Florian Freigassner | AUT | 26 | 2.89 | 2.89 | 62.09 | 62.53 | 2:04.62 |
| 12 | Samuel Halcin | SVK | 31 | 2.90 | 2.91 | 62.22 | 62.98 | 2:05.20 |
| 13 | Simon Dietz | GER | 1 | 2.84 | 2.87 | 62.97 | 63.20 | 2:06.17 |
| 14 | Gabriel Halcin | SVK | 29 | 3.07 | 3.07 | 62.99 | 64.62 | 2:07.61 |
| 15 | Jerome Almer | SUI | 28 | 3.08 | 3.03 | 64.29 | 64.00 | 2:08.29 |
| 16 | Wojciech Kwiecinski | POL | 12 | 2.89 | 2.89 | 64.63 | 64.32 | 2:08.95 |
| 17 | Torrey Cookman | USA | 18 | 3.02 | 3.04 | 64.48 | 64.97 | 2:09.45 |
| 18 | Dominik Neupauer | SVK | 25 | 2.97 | 3.00 | 65.17 | 64.96 | 2:10.13 |
| 19 | Thomas Matthews | USA | 20 | 3.10 | 3.10 | 64.79 | 66.61 | 2:11.40 |
| 20 | Tomas Hasek | CZE | 16 | 3.26 | 3.25 | 65.40 | 66.06 | 2:11.46 |
| 21 | Mason Palecek | USA | 21 | 3.17 | 3.10 | 66.66 | 65.73 | 2:12.39 |
| 22 | Jakub Mercak | CZE | 15 | 3.26 | 3.21 | 65.94 | 66.73 | 2:12.67 |
| 23 | Patryk Hudy | POL | 11 | 3.03 | 3.10 | 66.29 | 66.63 | 2:12.92 |
| 24 | David Rydl | CZE | 22 | 3.25 | 3.29 | 66.72 | 66.77 | 2:13.49 |
| 25 | Louie Coburn | NZL | 6 | 3.39 | 3.50 | 66.91 | 66.89 | 2:13.80 |
| 26 | Hans-georg Münch | GER | 7 | 3.08 | 3.09 | 67.31 | 66.99 | 2:14.30 |
| 27 | Fabian Brunner | ITA | 37 | 2.78 | 61.18 | |||
| 28 | Matthias Lambacher | ITA | 10 | 2.84 | 61.43 | |||
| 29 | Paolo Auer | AUT | 2 | 2.87 | 62.21 | |||
| 30 | Simon Saurer | AUT | 3 | 3.02 | 62.47 | |||
| 31 | Konrad Plonka | POL | 13 | 3.05 | 68.58 | |||
| 32 | Jan Janosek | CZE | 9 | 3.07 | 70.22 | |||
| 33 | Daniel Szmit | POL | 4 | 3.50 | 75.67 | |||
| 34 | Gabriel Dvorčák | SVK | 5 | 3.62 | 81.19 | |||
| 35 | Shohei Tanaka | SUI | 23 | 21.17 | 100.17 |