On February 11, 2026, at the Cortina Sliding Centre during the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics, women’s doubles luge made its historic Olympic debut. Italy made history at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics by sweeping gold in both the men’s and women’s doubles luge events at the Cortina Sliding Centre an unprecedented achievement that delivered one of the most memorable days in Italian Olympic luge history.
Team Italy’s Women’s Doubles Luge (Andrea Voetter and Marion Oberhofer)
In the historic Olympic debut of women’s doubles luge on February 11, 2026, at the Cortina Sliding Centre, Italy’s Andrea Voetter and Marion Oberhofer dominated from the start on their home track. In Run 1, they posted the fastest time of 53.102 seconds, edging out Germany’s Dajana Eitberger and Magdalena Matschina (53.124 seconds, +0.022) and Austria’s Selina Egle and Lara Kipp (53.193 seconds) to take the halfway lead. They maintained composure in Run 2 with another clean, strong slide, securing the overall gold with a combined time of 1:46.284. This held off Germany for silver (1:46.404, +0.120 seconds) and Austria for bronze (1:46.543, +0.259 seconds), delivering Italy’s first Olympic women’s luge gold and the inaugural title in the event amid massive home-crowd energy.
Team Italy’s Men’s Doubles Luge (Emanuel Rieder and Simon Kainzwaldner)
Later that same day, Emanuel Rieder and Simon Kainzwaldner rallied to complete Italy’s stunning double gold sweep in men’s doubles. After Run 1, they sat in third place with a time of 52.499 seconds—just +0.017 behind the U.S. leaders Marcus Mueller and Ansel Haugsjaa (who set a track record of 52.482 seconds)—trailing Austria’s Thomas Steu and Wolfgang Kindl slightly while Germany’s Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt were fifth. In Run 2, the Italians unleashed a superb, nearly flawless run of 52.587 seconds (the fastest of the heat), surging to the top and clinching gold with a combined time of 1:45.086. This narrowly beat Austria’s Steu/Kindl for silver (1:45.154, +0.068 seconds) and denied the legendary “Two Tobis” a fourth straight title, as they took bronze (1:45.176, +0.090 seconds). The comeback thrilled the Cortina crowd and capped one of the most memorable days in Italian Olympic history. 🇮🇹🥇🥇
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