CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy — For Italy, it was a double-gold night in doubles luge. And USA Luge made history, just not the kind the Americans have been waiting forever to enjoy.
Emanuel Rieder and Simon Kainzwaldner of Italy rallied in the second heat to win the Olympic men’s doubles gold medal at the Milan Cortina Games on Wednesday night, finishing in 1 minute, 45.086 seconds. That win for the home country came about an hour after Andrea Voetter and Marion Oberhofer won the women’s doubles luge race.
“No words, I’ve lost my voice now,” Rieder said. “I’ve been screaming too much. I’m super happy.”
Thomas Steu and Wolfgang Kindl of Austria were second in 1:45.154 and Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt of Germany – the back-to-back-to-back Olympic champions coming into Wednesday – gave up their crown but still medaled, finishing third in 1:45.176.
They won gold in Sochi, Pyeongchang and Beijing, taking every men’s doubles gold at the Olympics since Andreas Linger and Wolfgang Linger won the race for Austria at the 2010 Vancouver Games.
For the U.S., Marcus Mueller and Ansel Haugsjaa – junior world champions two years ago – were the leaders at the midway point of the two-run race, making some Olympic history for USA Luge.
No American sled had ever had the lead in an Olympic race with one run to go; for that matter, no American sled had ever held the lead after any full heat.
But a mistake in the second run doomed their shot at giving USA Luge its first-ever Olympic title, and they finished sixth in 1:45.293.
“We were feeling pretty good. It was just a small mistake … it was so close in the end,” Mueller said. “To do all that and be sixth, you can’t be so unhappy.”
Zack DiGregorio and Sean Hollander of the U.S. were eighth in 1:45.467. Hollander raced on his 26th birthday.
“It’s tough when you put down two clean race runs, and you expect it to have a little bit more speed,” DiGregorio said. “Didn’t find that speed today, but that’s part of the sport.”
