Vötter/Oberhofer and Rieder/Kainzwaldner race to Gold – Italian festival in the doubles team
2026 Winter Olympics in Milan Cortina
Cortina (FIL/11 Feb 2026) Andrea Vötter and Marion Oberhofer have made Olympic history. The Italians are the first Olympic champions in the women's doubles team competition. The 2023 world champions triumphed at the Cortina Sliding Center with two commanding runs.
They needed 1:46.284 minutes for their winning runs at their home games. “I haven't quite realized yet that we are Olympic champions,” said Vötter after the entire Italian team had congratulated her on the track. She then described the decisive run: “The second run was so good, I don't know what we could have done better.”
Teammate Oberhofer admitted: “I was completely calm at the start, but then I kept telling myself on the sled: concentrate.” Incidentally, they improved the start record to 3.911 seconds in the first run.
Dajana Eitberger and Magdalena Matschina won silver. The Germans were 0.120 seconds behind. This is the second silver medal for 35-year-old Eitberger. She had already won silver at the 2018 Games in Pyeongchang – in the singles. Now she has the same color in the doubles team. “I never thought I would find myself in a team sport again,” said Eitberger, "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."
Selina Egle and Lara Kipp came in third. The Austrians were the favorites as world champions and leaders in the overall World Cup. However, they made too many mistakes in their two runs. Despite finishing 0.259 seconds behind, they were delighted with their medal and beamed at the award ceremony. It was also a particularly emotional moment for them, as they had dramatically missed out on the first women's doubles competition at the 2020 Youth Olympic Games in Lausanne. Egle had broken her foot during training at the time, making it impossible for her to compete. “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.”
Many prominent figures wanted to be there for the premiere of the new competition on the ice track. Italy's President Sergio Mattarella was naturally rooting for his compatriots Vötter and Oberhofer. With success. Kirsty Coventry, President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), accompanied by her predecessor Thomas Bach and British IOC member Princess Anne, came to the track as neutral observers.
They also saw how surprisingly the two Latvians Marta Robezniece/Kitija Bogdanova came in fourth, 0.512 seconds behind, ahead of the US team Chevonne Forgan/Sophia Kirkby (1.281) and the Poles Nikola Domowicz/Dominika Piwkowska (1.952).
In the men's event, the Italian festival continued. Emanuel Rieder and Simon Kainzwaldner won gold with two clean runs in 1:45.086 minutes. Their first major success. Until now, they had only won silver in the sprint at the 2020 World Championships in Sochi.
“After our many training runs, we were able to use our home advantage,” said front man Rieder. And rear man Kainzwaldner added: “This also means that all the hard work in the workshop has paid off. We completely rebuilt our sled in the summer.”
Second place and silver, 0.068 seconds behind, went to the Austrian team of Thomas Steu and Wolfgang Kindl. Both are already decorated athletes. Steu won silver (relay) and bronze (doubles) with his former partner Lorenz Koller in 2022, while Kindl won two silver medals (singles and relay) at the same Games. Now the 2024 doubles world champions have won their first medal as a team. “Extremely awesome!” said Steu happily.
For Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt, a winning streak came to an end. After three gold medals, the Germans secured bronze (0.090 seconds behind). With a strong second run, they were able to overtake their teammates Toni Eggert and Fabian Müller (0.183) and thus have another chance at a medal in the team relay.
So far, they have won six gold medals and one bronze medal. Just like their former training partner Nathalie Geisenberger.
Martins Bots and Roberts Plume from Latvia came in fifth (0.198). The competition was tragic for Marcus Mueller and Ansel Haugsjaa, however. The young Americans set a track record in the first run with a time of 52.482 seconds. However, in the second run, they made too many mistakes, especially in the lower part of the track, and fell back to sixth place, 0.207 seconds behind.
On Thursday, February 12, 2026, the Olympic luge competitions will come to an end with the team relay final. The competition will start at 5 p.m. (local time/CET).
