02/11/26 01:28:00
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02/11 13:26 CST Italian team rallies for men's doubles gold in luge at Milan
Cortina Games, US falls short
Italian team rallies for men's doubles gold in luge at Milan Cortina Games, US
falls short
By TIM REYNOLDS
AP Sports Writer
CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) --- For Italy, it was a double-gold night in
doubles luge. And for the U.S., the wait for the biggest prize in the sport
will continue.
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.
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 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. Zack DiGregorio
and Sean Hollander of the U.S. were eighth in 1:45.467.
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AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
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