From Sigulda, LAT
(February 24, 2024) – Martins Bots and Roberts Plume took gold on their home track in Sigulda, but it did not come easily, as they had to hold off the most accomplished team in the field to do so.
Bots and Plume led Germany’s Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt by just .018 going into the second heat of competition, while the rest of the field was well back from third on back.
Of the two teams, the Germans went first off the top. A traditionally quick start, coupled with a traditionally quick slide by Wendl and Arlt put them over a quarter of a second ahead of World Cup leaders Thomas Steu and Wolfgang Kindl with only the Latvians to go.
Bots and Plume answered, as they out-started the Germans by .008 off the top. As they had been in the first heat, the Latvians trailed Wendl and Arlt throughout the bulk of their run, but in the final curve once again found time as Bots and Plume tied Wendl and Arlt’s second downtime to win by .018.
The gold for the Latvian duo was their second of the season and first of the season in a two-heat race. For Wendl and Arlt, their silver made it a four-race streak of medals. They’ve only finished off of the podium twice during the 2023/2024 season.
Steu and Kindl finished third for their sixth straight medal and ninth in ten races as a team.
Eduards Sevics-Mikelsevics and Lukass Krasts moved up from fifth to finish fourth, ahead of Austria’s Yannick Müller and Armin Frauscher in fifth.
The United States’ Zack DiGregorio and Sean Hollander had entered the second heat in third place, but couldn’t quite find the pace needed in the second heat and fell to sixth, two spots ahead of teammates Dana Kellogg and Frank Ike.
Canadians Devin Wardrope and Cole Zajanski finished 11th, up from 14th in the first heat.
With one sprint and one two-heat race left in the 2023/2024 World Cup season, Steu and Kindl lead Wendl and Arlt by 126 points and can clinch the title a race early with a good finish in the Sprint World Cup race on Sunday. Bots and Plume are still within shouting distance of Wendl and Arlt in third, with Thomas Orlamünder and Paul Gubitz in fourth and Juri Gatt and Riccardo Schöpf rounding out the top five.
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
| 1 | Bots / Plume | LAT | 13 | 1.510 | 1.524 | 41.516 | 41.792 | 1:23.308 |
| 2 | Wendl / Arlt | GER | 11 | 1.509 | 1.532 | 41.534 | 41.792 | 1:23.326 |
| 3 | Steu / Kindl | AUT | 12 | 1.527 | 1.518 | 41.734 | 41.848 | 1:23.582 |
| 4 | Sevics-Mikelsevics / Krasts | LAT | 9 | 1.527 | 1.537 | 41.738 | 41.906 | 1:23.644 |
| 5 | Müller / Frauscher | AUT | 6 | 1.554 | 1.548 | 41.790 | 42.019 | 1:23.809 |
| 6 | DiGregorio / Hollander | USA | 7 | 1.525 | 1.558 | 41.720 | 42.116 | 1:23.836 |
| 7 | Rieder / Kainzwaldner | ITA | 8 | 1.528 | 1.568 | 41.997 | 41.918 | 1:23.915 |
| 8 | Kellogg / Ike | USA | 5 | 1.608 | 1.605 | 41.981 | 42.097 | 1:24.078 |
| 9 | Rieder / Gufler | ITA | 3 | 1.523 | 1.536 | 42.080 | 42.261 | 1:24.341 |
| 10 | Orlamünder / Gubitz | GER | 15 | 1.526 | 1.542 | 42.103 | 42.480 | 1:24.583 |
| 11 | Wardrope / Zajanski | CAN | 17 | 1.603 | 1.603 | 42.411 | 42.382 | 1:24.793 |
| 12 | Gatt / Schöpf | AUT | 10 | 1.537 | 1.549 | 41.763 | 43.254 | 1:25.017 |
| 13 | Vavercak / Zmij | SVK | 1 | 1.554 | 1.545 | 42.328 | 43.216 | 1:25.544 |
| 14 | Jubayi / Hou | CHN | 2 | 1.653 | 2.071 | 42.194 | 43.443 | 1:25.637 |
| 15 | Hoi / Kachmar | UKR | 16 | 1.615 | 1.604 | 43.131 | 42.621 | 1:25.752 |
| 16 | Jäger / Steudte | GER | 4 | 1.575 | 1.561 | 43.818 | 41.946 | 1:25.764 |
| 17 | Mykyievych / Babura | UKR | 21 | 1.620 | 1.668 | 43.025 | 42.769 | 1:25.794 |
| 18 | Baltgalvis / Jegorovs | LAT | 22 | 1.641 | 1.640 | 53.097 | 42.883 | 1:53.980 |
| DNF | Handaric / Motzcza | ROU | 20 | 1.628 | 1.647 | 43.024 | DNF | |
| DNF | Gitlan / Serban | ROU | 18 | 1.625 | DNF | |||
| DNF | Huang / Peng | CHN | 19 | 1.628 | DNF | |||
| DNS | Nagler / Malleier | ITA | 14 | DNS |