The doubles Wendl/Arlt also achieve the Olympic gold hat-trick

Yanqing (FIL) After Natalie Geisenberger, the doubles' team of Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt has also achieved the gold hat-trick. After Sotchi and PyeongChang, the two lugers from Berchtesgaden-Königssee were also the fastest at the National Sliding Center in Yanqing.

With best times in both runs, including the track record in 58.255 seconds in the first run, they distanced their team mates Toni Eggert and Sascha Benecken by 0.099 seconds. Third went to Thomas Steu and Lorenz Koller. The Austrians were already 0.511 seconds behind. Behind them followed the Latvian double-double with Martins Bots and Roberts Blume (0.865 seconds back) and Andris and Juris Sics (0.883).

During the World Cup season, Eggert/Benecken were usually the better team, Wendl/Arlt could only win one race. They often struggled with their sled. After their gold runs they were beaming. "What we put on the runners with Georg Hackl," said helmsman Wendl, "that was a hard project." To then add with a broad grin: "We first had to tame the sled, during the season it was hard to tame, today we did it." And Arlt added with a smile: "You just have to know when to perform."

Overall World Cup winner, five-time World champion - and now silver. Nevertheless, Toni Eggert is not disappointed: "It is not a matter of course to win an Olympic medal. After bronze four years ago, we have now won the second, we can be very proud of that."

The Austrian duo Steu/Koller was also overjoyed. After all, they had a tough season behind them. "Of course it was hard after my broken leg at the beginning of the season and in the winter before," Thomas Steu told us, "but I was always sure that we would be fit for the Olympic Games." Which then worked out.

All Olympic results can be found at the following link: https://www.fil-luge.org/en/multimedia/olympic-winter-games-3