Double reason to celebrate: Lukass Krasts and partner achieve first World Cup victory

Sigulda (FIL/03.01.2026) After the doubles race in the EBERSPAECHER Luge World Cup, Sigulda was in a state of excitement. Latvians Eduards Sevics-Mikelsevics and Lukass Krasts celebrated their first World Cup victory in 1:23.508 minutes. And that on Krasts' 25th birthday, of all days. Naturally, a serenade was sung in the packed finish area. “These emotions – simply unbelievable,” said Sevics-Mikelsevics, looking at his partner, with whom he had become Junior World Champion in 2021: “That was my birthday present for Lukass.”

Tobias Wendl/Tobias Arlt, the six-time Olympic champions, were 0.078 seconds behind. “Our gift to Lukass,” said Arlt. And Wendl added: “A few small mistakes cost us the victory. But that's no shame, the Latvians are 14 years younger than us.”
 

The two Germans have not only regained the lead in the overall World Cup, but are also satisfied with their form one month before the Olympic Games in Cortina d'Ampezzo. The podium was completed by the experienced Latvians Martins Bots/Roberts Plume (0.085 seconds behind). “Seven thousandths – that was really close. The Tobis were lucky,” said a satisfied Bots, “achieving a result like this at home is very emotional. And it also means a lot to us because our family and friends are at the track today.”

Yannick Müller/Armin Frauscher (Austria/0.276) finished fourth ahead of the two Italian doubles Emanuel Rieder and Simon Kainzwaldner (0.312) and Ivan Nagler/Fabian Malleier (0.435).

Egle/Kipp continue their winning streak

The women's two runs were also exciting. With a strong second run, Selina Egle and Lara Kipp (Austria) managed to overtake Dajana Eitberger and Magdalena Matschina (Germany), who were leading after the first run. Egle/Kipp's final time was 1:24.814 seconds. Eitberger/Matschina were 0.031 seconds slower on the track. “The first run didn't go so well for us,” was Kipp's analysis, “but the second one did.” And pilot Egle admitted: "Sigulda and us – it's a bit of a love-hate relationship. After a bad start, we felt our way step by step. When you hit the curves, it's really cool.“ Matschina also has a special relationship with the ice track in Sigulda: ”We had so many crashes last season that I personally didn't expect such a result." Because of these experiences, both were very excited, as Eitberger admitted: “It was important for us to deliver a decent performance after last season. In the first run, we didn't expect it to be so good. In the second, we just wanted to finish well.” The Italian duo Andrea Vötter/Marion Oberhofer raced to third place (0.203). “That wasn't too bad,” said Vötter with a smile, “Sigulda is an incredibly technical track. It's a little different every time, so you have to work your way back into it.”

Despite being 0.763 seconds behind the winners and just over half a second behind third place, Marta Robezniece and Kitija Bogdanova (Latvia) were satisfied with their performance. Behind them came two US sleds with Chevonne Forgan/Sophia Kirkby (0.826) and Maya Chan/Sophia Gordon (0.858) in third and fourth place.

Two German sleds were unlucky. The young duo Elisa-Marie Storch/Pauline Patz shone in the first run with the fourth-fastest time, but in the second run they tipped over in curve 15 and got back on the sled in curve 16, leaving them in 14th place (5.459) at the end. Former world champions Jessica Degenhardt and Cheyenne Rosenthal were not allowed to start because they had not completed the two mandatory training runs due to a cold and two crashes in training.

Further schedule for the 4th EBERSPÄCHER Luge World Cup, Sigulda (LAT):
Local start time (CET/MEZ)

Sunday, January 4, 2026

11:15 a.m. (10:15 a.m.) Women's singles, 2nd run
12:25 p.m. (11:25 a.m.) Men's singles, 2nd run
2:15 p.m. (1:15 p.m.) Team relay

All information is subject to change!

Further information and all results can be found at the following link: https://www.fil-luge.org/en/media/eberspaecher-world-cup-46