German doubles dominate in Whistler - Vötter/Oberhofer fastest women

Whistler (FIL/10 Dec 2022) The German doubles athletes have succeeded in taking revenge. At the EBERSPÄCHER Luge World Cup in Whistler Toni Eggert and Sascha Benecken drove to their 52nd victory. Their teammates Tobias Wendl/Tobias Arlt finished second. The Olympic Champions were 0.051 seconds behind the winners of last season's overall World Cup.

Third place went to Juri Gatt and Riccardo Schöpf. The Austrians had won a week ago at the World Cup opener on their home track in Innsbruck-Igls ahead of their teammates Thomas Steu/Lorenz Koller and Yannick Müller/Armin Frauscher. "The battle with the Austrians is huge fun, it can go on like this," said Tobias Wendl, "if sometimes one wins, sometimes the other, it stays exciting."

Already in the second race the favorites peeled off in the women's doubles. Andrea Vötter and Marion Oberhofer took their first World Cup victory after finishing third in Innsbruck. "It is already nice for Italy to be there and to hear the anthem," said Vötter quite moved.

Second, 0.041 seconds behind, were the premiere winners Selina Egle/Lara Kipp (Austria). Jessica Degenhardt and Cheyenne Rosenthal dropped back to third place, 0.056 seconds behind. After the two Germans had shone with a start record and the fastest time in the first run, they made too many mistakes in run two. "Unfortunately we didn't manage two clean runs," said Rosenthal, "already after the starts we left a little bit of momentum."

Gatt/Schöpf and Egle/Kipp continue to lead in the World Cup standings. "To continue to have the yellow jersey is insane," Egle was pleased, "Riding doubles is incredibly fun." Winner Oberhofer also wanted to agree: "For now, I'll continue to race singles and doubles. Then I'll see how things develop." The tendency, however, is for her to sit out a singles race at some point, she said.

Before the first doubles had started, spectators at the Whistler Sliding Center witnessed an emotional climax. Tristan Walker and Justin Snith started as forerunners. This was the farewell run of the most successful Canadian doubles team. "It was incredibly fun to be on the sled one more time," Walker said. The helmsman has traded the horns of the sled for the controls of an airplane. He passed his commercial pilot's license this summer. Snith is studying in Vancouver.

Results 2nd EBERSPÄCHER World Cup Whistler (CAN): https://www.fil-luge.org/en/multimedia/eberspaecher-world-cup-19

Overall World Cup standings: https://www.fil-luge.org/en/overall-scores?event_season_id=30

Results 1st EBERSPÄCHER Team Relay World Cup presented by BMW, 10.12.2022 in Whistler (CAN): https://www.fil-luge.org/en/multimedia/eberspaecher-team-relay-world-cup-presented-by-bmw-13