From Cortina d’Ampezzo
(February 11, 2026) – Andrea Vötter and Marion Oberhofer are Olympic champions.
The duo took a .022 second lead over Germany’s Dajana Eitberger and Magdalena Matschina after the first heat, with favorites Madeleine Egle and Lara Kipp only .091 in third.
Behind the medal contenders, Latvia’s Marta Robezniece and Kitija Bogdanova and USA’s Chevonne Forgan and Sophia Kirkby sat fourth and fifth.
Forgan and Kirkby, who made history as the first ever women’s doubles team in the Olympics, had a second run that was just a bit bumpy. It was enough to take the lead, but left the door open for the teams ahead of them.
The Latvian duo were next. In the Olympics despite teammates Anda Upite and Madara Pavlova qualifying the spot and looking to prove they belong, Robezniece and Bogdanova threw down a quick run to take the lead handily from the Americans.
But that effort for the Latvians wasn’t enough to slide into the medals. Egle and Kipp got down clean, but their second run downtime was off of the pace by the Latvians. It was enough to move into the medals but would place the reigning world champions in third overall.
Gold was decided between the Germans and Italians. Eitberrger and Matschina had a great start and a nearly flawless slide to take the lead by over a tenth ahead of the Austrians with just Vötter and Oberhofer still to go.
Vötter and Oberhofer had been one of the top starters over the last few seasons, but hadn’t quite had the pace during the 2025/2026 season. But they had their form on Wednesday with the two quick starts of the competition. Their second start put them ahead of Eitberrger and Matschina, and while they gave up some time late to the Germans they had more than enough in the bank to win gold, Italy’s first in Olympic luge since Armin Zöggeler in 2006 and first in a doubles race since Kurt Brugger and Wilfred Huber in Lillehammer.
Interviewed after the race, the victory still hadn’t hit Vötter.
“I still haven’t really realized yet that we’re Olympic champions,” she said. “The second run was so good, I don’t know what we could have done better!”
For Eitberger, the Olympic medal was her second silver after winning in women’s singles in 2018. She made the move to doubles after taking a season off for maternity leave.
“I never thought I would find myself in a team sport again,” she told FIL media after the race. “After the birth of my son in 2022, I knew for sure that I would continue until 2026. I knew that something big was still to come. I hadn’t thought about the doubles at that point!”
A favorite coming into the race, Egle and Kipp were still happy with bronze.
“The medal means so much to us,” said Egle, “the Olympic Games are something else, your nerves really get the better of you. I can feel how emotional I am now and how much pressure has been lifted.”
Robezniece and Bogdanova were fourth, with Forgan and Kirkby fifth and Poland’s Nikola Domowicz and Dominika Piwkowska sixth.
Having made history as the first women’s doubles team off in the Olympics, USA’s Chevonne Forgan was looking to the future after the race.
“We hope that we are paving the way for future generations of women to show women and girls coming up in luge, and outside of luge, in the Winter Olympics in general, that you can do any sport, you can do whatever you want,” said Forgan. “We’re hoping this really inspires the next generation. We’ll probably be competing against the next generation soon enough. It’s just crazy that we’re part of this first group.”
Canada’s Beattie Podulsky and Kailey Allan 10th.
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
| 1 | Vötter / Oberhofer | ITA | 2 | 3.911 | 3.920 | 53.102 | 53.182 | 1:46.284 |
| 2 | Eitberger / Matschina | GER | 6 | 3.941 | 3.942 | 53.124 | 53.280 | 1:46.404 |
| 3 | Egle / Kipp | AUT | 3 | 3.966 | 3.985 | 53.193 | 53.350 | 1:46.543 |
| 4 | Robezniece / Bogdanova | LAT | 4 | 3.925 | 3.950 | 53.492 | 53.304 | 1:46.796 |
| 5 | Forgan / Kirkby | USA | 1 | 3.948 | 3.945 | 53.570 | 53.995 | 1:47.565 |
| 6 | Domowicz / Piwkowska | POL | 7 | 3.891 | 4.018 | 54.247 | 53.989 | 1:48.236 |
| 7 | Stetskiv / Mokh | UKR | 5 | 3.949 | 3.982 | 54.174 | 54.231 | 1:48.405 |
| 8 | Gulijienaiti / Zhao | CHN | 8 | 3.977 | 3.987 | 54.180 | 54.307 | 1:48.487 |
| 9 | Stramaturaru / Manolescu | ROU | 10 | 3.985 | 3.977 | 54.339 | 54.405 | 1:48.744 |
| 10 | Podulsky / Allan | CAN | 11 | 3.954 | 3.955 | 55.735 | 53.747 | 1:49.482 |
| 11 | Praxova / Spitzova | SVK | 9 | 4.021 | 4.052 | 56.227 | 55.286 | 1:51.513 |