Orlamünder & Gubitz Win First World Championship Gold

From Whistler, CAN

(February 7, 2025) – Hannes Orlamünder and Paul Gubitz came into the 53rd FIL World Championships in Whistler with two career World Cup victories, and walked away on Saturday with their first World Championship title.

The duo took the lead from the fifth starting spot in the first heat with a run that was less than .04 from the track record. They then watched as team after team failed to match their time, with teammates Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt coming closest, .046 off of the pace.

Behind the two German teams, Thomas Steu and Wolfgang Kindl looked to get their second medal of the weekend after a gold in the Mixed Doubles race, but had to hold off a quick Latvian team of Martins Bots and Roberts Plume to do so.

In the second heat, the Latvians put down a run that was nearly a full tenth quicker than their first, enough to take the lead from Germany’s Toni Eggert and Florian Müller, who had moved up from seventh into the top five. From there, Bots and Plume watched as both Steu and Kindl then Wendl and Arlt missed the mark that they set.

But Orlamünder and Gubitz had been good in training, had a great effort in the Mixed Doubles race, and an excellent first run in the race. Their second effort nearly mirrored their first, only .002 slower as they had the two quick runs of the competition on their way to their first ever World Championship gold, with Bots and Plume silver and Wendl and Arlt bronze.

Orlamünder & Gubitz (Courtesy FIL / Michael Kristen)

Steu and Kindl were fourth, ahead of Eggert and Müller in fifth and Austria’s Yannick Müller and Armin Frauscher in sixth.

Marcus Mueller and Ansel Haugsjaa entered the second heat in fifth place, but fell two spots in the second heat on their way to a seventh place finish. Teammates Zack Digregorio and Sean Hollander moved up from 11th in the first heat to finish tenth.

Canada’s Devin Wardrope and Cole Zajanski were 12th on their home ice.

After three races in the 53rd World Championships, the medal table looks like this:
1. Germany (2G, 1S, 2B)
2. Austria (1G, 1B)
T3. Latvia (1S)
T3. USA (1S)

Results: 

Pos Name Nation Bib Start 1 Start 2 Run 1 Run 2 Total
1 Orlamünder / Gubitz GER 5 3.281 3.291 38.268 38.270 1:16.538
2 Bots / Plume LAT 14 3.277 3.283 38.357 38.283 1:16.640
3 Wendl / Arlt GER 15 3.250 3.246 38.314 38.357 1:16.671
4 Steu / Kindl AUT 13 3.302 3.298 38.348 38.346 1:16.694
5 Eggert / Müller GER 10 3.270 3.280 38.466 38.355 1:16.821
6 Müller / Frauscher AUT 12 3.296 3.297 38.448 38.400 1:16.848
7 Mueller / Haugsjaa USA 4 3.278 3.287 38.392 38.464 1:16.856
8 Nagler / Malleier ITA 9 3.261 3.261 38.547 38.369 1:16.916
9 Gatt / Schöpf AUT 11 3.279 3.288 38.502 38.492 1:16.994
10 Digregorio / Hollander USA 8 3.290 3.291 38.553 38.501 1:17.054
11 Sevics-Mikelsevics / Krasts LAT 3 3.280 3.288 38.469 38.626 1:17.095
12 Wardrope / Zajanski CAN 16 3.291 3.302 38.639 39.659 1:17.298
13 Chmielewski / Kowalewski POL 7 3.296 3.288 38.680 38.632 1:17.312
14 Rieder / Kainzwaldner ITA 6 3.312 3.304 38.820 38.679 1:17.499
15 Vavercak / Zmij SVK 2 3.289 3.291 38.823 39.061 1:17.884
16 Gitlan / Serban ROU 17 3.337 3.330 39.209 39.154 1:18.363
17 Hoi / Kachmar UKR 1 3.360 3.377 39.757 39.183 1:18.940
18 Handaric / Motzcz ROU 18 3.406 3.391 39.575 39.855 1:19.430