From Igls, AUT
(January 13, 2024) – The most competitive tour thus far this season on the FIL World Cup, and coming into the race in Igls the discipline had seen four winners in four races.
On Saturday they added yet another winner in Thomas Steu and Wolfgang Kindl.
Austria was looking for a possible one-two on the podium. Steu and Kindl led teammates Juri Gatt and Riccardo Schöpf by less than a tenth of a second, with the Latvian team of Martins Bots and Roberts Plume in the mix in third place.
As they’ve had repeatedly this season, Germany’s Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt rallied from a disappointing first run to find their way into contention for medals. Latvia’s Bots and Plume took the lead from Wendl and Arlt with the two Austrian teams to go.
Gatt and Schöpf’s second run looked to be a quality run. Through the Kreisel the duo looked to be well ahead of the Latvians but a late exit through the labyrinth tipped them over and while they got through the finish line they fell to what would eventually be ninth.
That left Steu and Kindl to slide. After setting a track record in the first heat the team nearly matched that record time and won by .172 over Bots and Plume, with Wendl and Arlt moving into the medals in third.
Hannes Orlamünder and Paul Gubitz finished fourth, while Emanuel Rieder and Simon Kainzwaldner rounded out the top five.
The United States’ men had a mixed bag in doubles. Dana Kellogg and Frank Ike slid to an eighth place finish, their best ever as a team. Teammates Zack DiGregorio and Sean Hollander had trouble off the top in both starts and eventually finished 23rd.
After four World Cup races plus a Sprint World Cup event, Steu and Kindl lead Wendl and Arlt by 21 points, with Bots and Plume 30 points behind the Germans in third. Orlamünder and Gubitz, Gatt and Schöpf, and DiGregorio and Hollander round out the top six.
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
| 1 | Steu / Kindl | AUT | 23 | 2.065 | 2.079 | 39.344 | 39.346 | 1:18.690 |
| 2 | Bots / Plume | LAT | 19 | 2.032 | 2.033 | 39.414 | 39.448 | 1:18.862 |
| 3 | Wendl/Arlt | GER | 22 | 2.055 | 2.053 | 39.510 | 39.476 | 1:18.986 |
| 4 | Orlamünder / Gubitz | GER | 20 | 2.080 | 2.075 | 39.506 | 39.574 | 1:19.080 |
| 5 | Rieder / Kainzwaldner | ITA | 14 | 2.032 | 2.035 | 39.531 | 39.556 | 1:19.087 |
| 6 | Müller / Frauscher | AUT | 15 | 2.102 | 2.106 | 39.662 | 39.643 | 1:19.309 |
| 7 | Nagler / Malleier | ITA | 16 | 2.039 | 2.047 | 39.632 | 39.679 | 1:19.311 |
| 8 | Kellogg / Ike | USA | 12 | 2.072 | 2.076 | 39.710 | 39.648 | 1:19.389 |
| 9 | Gatt / Schöpf | AUT | 24 | 2.050 | 2.051 | 39.405 | 40.181 | 1:19.586 |
| 10 | Rieder / Gufler | ITA | 17 | 2.054 | 2.052 | 39.825 | 39.798 | 1:19.623 |
| 11 | Baltgalvis / Jegorovs | LAT | 11 | 2.091 | 2.079 | 39.846 | 39.810 | 1:19.656 |
| 12 | Jäger / Steudte | GER | 10 | 2.087 | 2.105 | 39.803 | 39.856 | 1:19.659 |
| 13 | Sevics-Mikelsevics / Krasts | LAT | 9 | 2.056 | 2.068 | 39.728 | 39.960 | 1:19.688 |
| 14 | Chmielewski / Kowalewski | POL | 13 | 2.049 | 2.049 | 39.789 | 39.970 | 1:19.759 |
| 15 | Vavercak / Zmij | SVK | 18 | 2.069 | 2.077 | 39.970 | 40.016 | 1:19.986 |
| 16 | Park / Cho | KOR | 6 | 2.113 | 2.127 | 40.053 | 40.022 | 1:20.075 |
| 17 | Handaric / Motzca | ROU | 8 | 2.091 | 2.108 | 40.111 | 40.153 | 1:20.264 |
| 18 | Bosman / Macko | SVK | 4 | 2.161 | 2.148 | 40.176 | 40.202 | 1:20.378 |
| 19 | Hoi / Kachmar | UKR | 5 | 2.118 | 2.118 | 40.155 | 40.275 | 1:20.430 |
| 20 | Jubayi / Hou | CHN | 2 | 2.102 | 2.136 | 40.210 | 40.252 | 1:20.462 |
| 21 | Huang / Peng | CHN | 1 | 2.115 | 2.109 | 40.211 | 40.377 | 1:20.588 |
| 22 | Gitlan / Serban | ROU | 7 | 2.087 | 2.089 | 40.224 | 40.508 | 1:20.732 |
| 23 | DiGregorio / Hollander | USA | 21 | 2.041 | 2.055 | 39.893 | 40.999 | 1:20.892 |
| 24 | Wardrope / Zajanski | CAN | 3 | 2.182 | 2.089 | 40.797 | 40.230 | 1:21.027 |
