From Cortina d’Ampezzo, ITA
(February 11, 2026) – In the closest luge race of the 2026 Olympic Winter Games, Italy’s Emanuel Rieder and Simon Kainzwaldner came from behind to win Italy’s second sliding sport gold medal of the day.
The race was super tight. Austria’s Thomas Steu and Wolfgang Kindl were the first team off the top and took a lead that looked as if it would hold against strong runs by Rieder and Kainzwaldner, Toni Eggert and Florian Müller of Germany and three-time reigning Olympic champions Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt.
But the tenth team off was the United States’ Marcus Mueller and Ansel Haugsjaa. The young American duo in their first Olympics had a strong start, and surprised the field by taking the lead ahead of Steu and Kindl by just .003 with a track record time.
In the second heat Wendl and Arlt cleaned up the small mistakes they made in the first heat and took the lead from Latvia’s Martins Bots and Roberts Plume. They then held that lead over Eggert and Müller to give them an outside look at a medal.
Rieder and Kainzwaldner were next. The Italians gave up some time at the start, but put down a nearly flawless run to take the lead by .09 ahead of the Bayern Express to take the lead with two to go.
Steu and Kindl were both looking for their third Olympic medals, Steu having previously won bronze in doubles alongside Lorenz Koller and a team relay medal in 2022, while Kindl took singles silver and the relay medal in the same games.
The duo puled off just ahead of the Italians, and while their run was good, it wasn’t quite as clean as that of Rieder and Kainzwaldner, crossing the finish line in second, .068 back with the Americans still to go.
Mueller and Haugsjaa had won gold in Lake Placid, so they were not new to being the last team off the top. Their second start was quicker than that of Rieder and Kainzwaldner and early on it looked as if they were on their way to gold. The Americans pulled away until trouble in the Chicane set them up wrong for Tofana, and the duo fell back by .207 into sixth.
Rieder and Kainzwaldner’s victory was the first for a men’s doubles team from Italy since Kurt Brugger and Wilfred Huber in Lillehammer.
Steu and Kindl were second, .068 back while Wendl and Arlt were third, .09 back.
Eggert and Müller were fourth, Bots and Plume fifth, with Mueller and Haugsjaa sixth.
USA’s Zack DiGregorio and Sean Hollander slid to eighth place, two spots ahead of Canada’s Devin Wardrope and Cole Zajanski in tenth.
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | FIL WC Rank | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
| 1 | Rieder / Kainzwaldner | ITA | 8 | 13 | 3.807 | 3.809 | 52.499 | 52.587 | 1:45.086 |
| 2 | Steu / Kindl | AUT | 1 | 5 | 3.781 | 3.800 | 52.485 | 52.669 | 1:45.154 |
| 3 | Wendl / Arlt | GER | 3 | 1 | 3.763 | 3.762 | 52.583 | 52.593 | 1:45.176 |
| 4 | Eggert / Müller | GER | 7 | 3 | 3.804 | 3.802 | 52.579 | 52.690 | 1:45.269 |
| 5 | Bots / Plume | LAT | 6 | 4 | 3.818 | 3.818 | 52.604 | 52.680 | 1:45.284 |
| 6 | Mueller / Haugsjaa | USA | 10 | 10 | 3.772 | 3.782 | 52.482 | 52.811 | 1:45.293 |
| 7 | Nagler / Malleier | ITA | 2 | 9 | 3.752 | 3.759 | 52.647 | 52.657 | 1:45.304 |
| 8 | DiGregorio / Hollander | USA | 9 | 11 | 3.806 | 3.818 | 52.744 | 52.723 | 1:45.467 |
| 9 | Sevics-Mikelsevics / Krasts | LAT | 4 | 7 | 3.815 | 3.809 | 52.749 | 52.934 | 1:45.683 |
| 10 | Wardrope / Zajanski | CAN | 15 | 24 | 3.830 | 3.828 | 52.996 | 52.910 | 1:45.906 |
| 11 | Gatt / Schöpf | AUT | 5 | 2 | 3.770 | 3.805 | 53.014 | 52.901 | 1:45.915 |
| 12 | Bosman / Mick | SVK | 12 | 14 | 3.884 | 3.867 | 53.121 | 53.004 | 1:46.125 |
| 13 | Chmielewski / Gancarczyk | POL | 11 | 12 | 3.762 | 3.781 | 53.000 | 53.246 | 1:46.246 |
| 14 | Hoi / Kachmar | UKR | 13 | 15 | 3.908 | 3.911 | 53.843 | 53.739 | 1:47.582 |
| 15 | Jubayi / Hou | CHN | 16 | 23 | 3.862 | 3.875 | 54.108 | 53.930 | 1:48.038 |
| 16 | Martsinovskyi / Babura | UKR | 14 | 16 | 3.864 | 3.878 | 54.158 | 53.957 | 1:48.115 |
| 17 | Gitlan / Serban | ROU | 17 | 17 | 3.859 | 3.866 | 54.144 | 54.046 | 1:48.190 |