From Königssee, GER
(Jan. 2, 2021) – Germany kicked off the 2021 calendar year in the same fashion they have so many times before: By winning a luge race in Königssee. Toni Eggert & Sascha Benecken edged out teammates Tobias Wendl & Tobias Arlt on their way to their 46th career doubles victory.
Wendl & Arlt held a .026 second advantage over Eggert & Benecken going into the second heat of racing to kick off the new year. Eggert & Benecken were perfect on their second run with only their teammates to go, and while Wendl & Arlt were quick they couldn’t match the speed that Eggert & Benecken carried. At the finish line, the difference was .141 from first to second.
Thomas Steu & Lorenz Koller finished a distant third, enough to hold onto their World Cup overall lead. Teammates Yannick Müller & Armin Frauscher finished fourth, just ahead of Andris & Juris Sics in fifth.
Robin Geueke & David Gamm finished sixth in their first World Cup start of the season to round out the German effort.
In the overall World Cup standings, Steu & Koller hold the lead over Eggert & Benecken, with Wendl & Arlt in third. This season the FIL is also giving a trophy to the team who leads the “classic luge” points (so full races without Sprint World Cup points) at the end of the season, and in those standings Eggert & Benecken lead over Steu & Koller.
The North Americans made their return to the FIL World Cup tour after sitting out the first part of the season thanks to COVID-related travel restrictions. Americans Chris Mazdzer & Jayson Terdiman led the way in 13th, up from 15th in the first heat. Canadians Tristan Walker & Justin Snith came into the second run in 11th, but a big skid into the labyrinth dropped them to 18th.
Results:
| Pos | Names | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
| 1 | Eggert / Benecken | GER | 20 | 2.873 | 2.865 | 50.118 | 50.166 | 1:40.284 |
| 2 | Wendl / Arlt | GER | 21 | 2.860 | 2.846 | 50.092 | 50.333 | 1:40.425 |
| 3 | Steu / Koller | AUT | 22 | 2.897 | 2.891 | 50.277 | 50.477 | 1:40.754 |
| 4 | Müller / Frauscher | AUT | 23 | 2.894 | 2.907 | 50.354 | 50.596 | 1:40.950 |
| 5 | Sics / Sics | LAT | 24 | 2.934 | 2.939 | 50.507 | 50.520 | 1:41.027 |
| 6 | Geueke / Gamm | GER | 12 | 2.887 | 2.899 | 50.610 | 50.482 | 1:41.092 |
| 7 | Rieder / Kainzwaldner | ITA | 13 | 2.899 | 2.894 | 50.557 | 50.540 | 1:41.097 |
| 8 | Nagler / Malleier | ITA | 14 | 2.873 | 2.783 | 50.512 | 50.626 | 1:41.138 |
| 9 | Kashkin / Korshunov | RUS | 11 | 2.924 | 2.932 | 50.598 | 50.663 | 1:41.261 |
| 10 | Rieder / Rastner | ITA | 19 | 2.835 | 2.812 | 50.478 | 50.809 | 1:41.287 |
| 11 | Denisev / Antonov | RUS | 15 | 2.951 | 2.965 | 50.783 | 50.738 | 1:41.521 |
| 12 | Gudramovics / Kalnins | LAT | 17 | 2.913 | 2.996 | 50.881 | 50.745 | 1:41.626 |
| 13 | Mazdzer / Terdiman | USA | 10 | 2.960 | 3.012 | 51.074 | 51.148 | 1:42.222 |
| 14 | Yuzhakov / Prokhorov | RUS | 18 | 2.952 | 2.791 | 50.976 | 51.261 | 1:42.237 |
| 15 | Vavercak / Zmij | SVK | 7 | 2.865 | 2.895 | 51.151 | 51.173 | 1:42.324 |
| 16 | Park / Cho | KOR | 9 | 3.079 | 3.115 | 51.166 | 51.356 | 1:42.522 |
| 17 | Chmielewski / Kowalewski | POL | 16 | 2.917 | 2.929 | 51.833 | 50.754 | 1:42.587 |
| 18 | Walker / Snith | CAN | 6 | 2.910 | 2.894 | 50.616 | 52.142 | 1:42.758 |
| 19 | Stakhiv / Lysetskyi | UKR | 4 | 3.045 | 3.049 | 51.652 | 51.780 | 1:43.432 |
| 20 | Hoi / Levkovych | UKR | 2 | 3.145 | 3.136 | 53.981 | 52.265 | 1:46.246 |
| 21 | Siscanu / Oprea | MDA | 1 | 3.100 | 3.090 | 53.388 | 53.284 | 1:46.672 |
| 22 | Vejdelek / Pekny | CZE | 5 | 3.128 | 3.113 | 51.905 | 54.910 | 1:46.815 |
| 23 | Turea / Motzca | ROU | 3 | 3.059 | 3.078 | 52.153 | 65.679 | 1:57.832 |
| 24 | Gatt / Schöpf | AUT | 8 | 2.951 | 2.954 | 51.405 | DNF | DNF |