PYEONGCHANG, South Korea — Wolfgang Kindl from Austria kicked off an impressive day by winning the luge World Cup doubles competition, concluding it by making history in the sport. He became the first athlete in 32 years to grab both a men’s singles and doubles title over the same World Cup weekend, accomplishing this remarkable feat just two hours apart. Kindl teamed up with Thomas Steu to secure the doubles victory before narrowly defeating Italy’s Dominik Fischnaller for the singles win.
According to the International Luge Federation, Kindl is only the fourth male slider to achieve such a weekend sweep, following in the footsteps of Norbert Huber, who achieved this three times in 1985 and 1986, Hansjörg Raffl in 1986, and Wilfried Huber in 1993. Kindl expressed a mix of emotions, stating, “To be honest, I was really nervous at the start. But it’s a wonderful day. I was always fast in training, but a race is something else.”
In the men’s singles competition, Kristers Aparjods from Latvia secured the third position, while the highest-ranking American athlete was Tucker West, who finished in 12th place. Germany’s Max Langenhan came in fourth, maintaining his lead in the World Cup overall standings with a 58-point advantage over Austria’s Nico Gleirscher as they head toward the upcoming season finale.
Germany also made a strong showing in the men’s doubles event, taking silver and bronze medals. Toni Eggert and Florian Mueller finished in second, while the duo of Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt took third. Wendl and Arlt are currently leading Steu and Kindl by a striking 85 points in the race for the World Cup title, with only one event remaining. The U.S. duo of Zach Di Gregorio and Sean Hollander claimed seventh place.
Turning to bobsled, it was once again Francesco Friedrich reigning supreme in the two-man bobsled category. The German athlete captured his seventh World Cup season-long points title with a solid second-place finish in the finale held in Lillehammer, Norway. Johannes Lochner claimed victory in that race and finished as the overall second, while Adam Ammour secured third, ensuring a clean sweep of the medals for the Germans in the two-man category.
In women’s competition, Germany’s Lisa Buckwitz wrapped up the women’s monobob points title, solidifying her ranking with a third-place finish during the finale. Australia’s Bree Walker clinched that race victory and ended up placing second in the overall points standings, with Canada’s Cynthia Appiah finishing second in the monobob event on Saturday.
Notably, the U.S. team opted out of the World Cup finale to dedicate more time preparing for the upcoming bobsled and skeleton world championships set to take place in Lake Placid, New York, next month.
Looking ahead, the bobsled two-woman and four-man World Cup finales are scheduled for Sunday in Lillehammer. Meanwhile, the luge events featuring women’s singles, mixed doubles, and mixed singles will also be held in Pyeongchang on Sunday. The skeleton world championships for both men and women are slated for March 6-7 in Lake Placid.
