From Oberhof, GER
(January 24, 2026) – Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt broke the Oberhof track record in the first heat on their way to a decisive victory over a pair of quick Austrian teams.
Wendl and Arlt were 13th off in the first heat, and slid to the lead ahead of Thomas Steu and Wolfgang Kindl and the Italian duo of Ivan Nagler and Fabian Malleier.
The second heat saw two teams move up into medal contention. Hannes Orlamünder and Paul Gubitz took the lead from fifth place with a quick run, but saw Austrians Juri Gatt and Riccardo Schöpf slide just ahead with a strong second effort.
That effort by the Austrian duo was enough to hold off Nagler and Malleier, as the Italians has trouble in the bottom half of the course and fell from a possible podium to finish to what would be fifth place.
Steu and Kindl were the penultimate team off the top in Oberhof. The duo put down a good slide, but only the fourth quickest. It was enough to take the lead, but the door was wide open for Wendl and Arlt.
Wendl and Arlt weren’t able to match their outstanding pace in their first heat, but just barely. Their second run was .027 off their first run pace and more than enough to take gold by .152 over Steu and Kindl, with Gatt and Schöpf .210 back in third.
Wendl and Arlt’s victory was their third straight and fifth medal in seven races. Steu and Kindl’s silver was their second of the year. For Gatt and Schöpf, bronze was their third straight and fourth medal after a gold in the season opener in Winterberg.
It was the 60th victory for Wendl and Arlt, and as Wendl told FIL TV after the race, winning is still fun for the duo.
“It was a solid race,” Wendl said. “We had trouble at the start like last week, but the track was a bit faster than last week. We enjoyed the crowd and the racing, and we’re still having fun with our 60th victory!”
Orlamünder and Gubitz were fourth, with Nagler and Malleier in fifth. Toni Eggert and Florian Müller slid to sixth place for Germany.
Zack DiGregorio and Sean Hollander had a pair of good runs on their way to an eighth place finish. Teammates Marcus Mueller and Ansel Haugsjaa were 11th. Canada’s Devin Wardrope and Cole Zajanski were 15th.
With two races to go in the World Cup season, Wendl and Arlt hold a 112 point lead over Gatt and Schöpf in second. Eggert and Müller are third, with Latvia’s Martins Bots and Roberts Plume in fourth. Steu and Kindl are fifth.
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
| 1 | Wendl / Arlt | GER | 13 | 7.257 | 7.271 | 41.274 | 41.301 | 1:22.575 |
| 2 | Steu / Kindl | AUT | 10 | 7.319 | 7.301 | 41.305 | 41.422 | 1:22.727 |
| 3 | Gatt / Schöpf | AUT | 11 | 7.323 | 7.336 | 41.374 | 41.411 | 1:22.785 |
| 4 | Orlamünder / Gubitz | GER | 7 | 7.346 | 7.334 | 41.384 | 41.418 | 1:22.802 |
| 5 | Nagler / Malleier | ITA | 8 | 7.245 | 7.261 | 41.348 | 41.494 | 1:22.842 |
| 6 | Eggert / Müller | GER | 9 | 7.391 | 7.368 | 41.409 | 41.449 | 1:22.858 |
| 7 | Bots / Plume | LAT | 12 | 7.349 | 7.366 | 41.445 | 41.457 | 1:22.902 |
| 8 | DiGregorio / Hollander | USA | 4 | 7.336 | 7.364 | 41.469 | 41.613 | 1:23.082 |
| 9 | Rieder / Kainzwaldner | ITA | 3 | 7.343 | 7.353 | 41.531 | 41.564 | 1:23.095 |
| 10 | Sevics-Mikelsevics / Krasts | LAT | 14 | 7.337 | 7.330 | 41.663 | 41.512 | 1:23.175 |
| 11 | Mueller / Haugsjaa | USA | 6 | 7.344 | 7.326 | 41.594 | 41.751 | 1:23.345 |
| 12 | Müller / Frauscher | AUT | 15 | 7.388 | 7.395 | 41.527 | 41.837 | 1:23.364 |
| 13 | Bosman / Mick | SVK | 2 | 7.503 | 7.529 | 41.742 | 41.875 | 1:23.617 |
| 14 | Chmielewski / Gancarczyk | POL | 5 | 7.779 | 7.250 | 42.378 | 41.575 | 1:23.953 |
| 15 | Wardrope / Zajanski | CAN | 16 | 7.450 | 7.492 | 42.133 | 42.184 | 1:24.317 |
| 16 | Hoi / Kachmar | UKR | 18 | 7.561 | 7.560 | 42.211 | 42.283 | 1:24.494 |
| 17 | Martsinovskyi / Babura | UKR | 17 | 7.542 | 7.505 | 42.344 | 42.228 | 1:24.572 |
| 18 | Gitlan / Serban | ROU | 1 | 7.422 | 7.445 | 42.165 | 42.651 | 1:24.816 |
| 19 | Panchuk / Muts | UKR | 20 | 7.535 | 43.140 | |||
| 20 | Handaric / Motzca | ROU | 19 | 7.532 | 53.922 |