In a stunning upset on their home track, Italian lugers Andrea Voetter and Marion Oberhofer captured the first-ever Olympic gold medal in women’s doubles luge at the Cortina d’Ampezzo Winter Games. The pair, who had not won a single World Cup event this season and were largely overlooked as contenders, delivered a flawless performance under pressure to finish in 1 minute, 46.204 seconds.
The victory came against formidable competition, with German silver medalists Dajana Eitberger (2018 women’s singles silver medalist) and Magdalena Matschina finishing just two-tenths of a second behind (1:46.404). The Austrian duo of Selina Egle and Lara Kipp secured bronze with a time of 1:46.543.
Notably absent from the historic race were several top teams due to restrictive qualification rules. Only 11 sleds were permitted to compete with a maximum of one per nation, excluding world-leading German pair Jessica Degenhardt and Cheyenne Rosenthal, along with the top American team of Maya Chan and Sophia Gordon. This exclusion sparked controversy within the sport, as four sleds that failed to qualify for the Olympics had outperformed the Italian champions in World Cup standings throughout the season.
The American representatives Chevonne Forgan and Sophia Kirkby finished fifth (1:47.565) but earned a permanent place in Olympic history as the first women’s doubles sled to compete in the Games.