The Latvian sledding team in doubles, Eduards Shevits-Mikelshevits and Lukas Krasts, secured first place at the fourth stage of the World Cup in Sigulda on Saturday, winning gold medals for the first time in their careers, reports LETA.
Martins Bots and Roberts Plume finished in third place, while World Cup debutants Edward Mart Markitans and Robert Lazdans came in 14th. In the women's doubles competition, Marta Rubežniece and Kitija Bogdanova placed fourth, Anda Upīte and Madara Pavlova were eighth, and Amanda Ogorodnikova and Selina Zvīlna finished thirteenth.
Shevits-Mikelshevits and today's birthday boy Krasts were the fastest in the first run, and in the second, they led their competitors by just one thousandth of a second, ultimately achieving a second-best time, which was enough for victory. The second place was taken by Germans Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt, who finished 0.078 seconds behind the Latvians.
Bots and Plume were third after the first run, and in the second, they recorded the best time of the day; however, this was not enough to climb higher in the overall standings. They missed second place by just seven thousandths of a second.
Markitans and Lazdans, performing commendably in their debut, were 15th and 16th in their individual runs, finishing 14th overall, 1.821 seconds behind the winners.
In the women's doubles competition, the victory went to Austrians Selina Egle and Lara Kipp, who surpassed the leaders after the first run — Germans Diana Aitberger and Magdalena Machina — by 0.031 seconds over the sum of two runs. The third place was taken by Italians Andrea Fether and Marion Oberhofer, who finished 0.203 seconds behind the winners.
Rubežniece and Bogdanova were sixth in the first run and fourth in the second, securing them an overall fourth position. They were 0.56 seconds shy of the podium.
Upīte and Pavlova showed a tenth-place result in the first run and a seventh in the second, falling behind by nearly one and a half seconds in total. Ogorodnikova and Zvīlna had a poor first run, finishing last, 14th among those who completed, but in the second run, they achieved a tenth-place result, allowing them to move up one position due to the misfortune of their competitors.
The competitions in the singles disciplines will continue on Sunday, when the team relay will also take place.
The fifth stage of the World Cup will be held in January in Winterberg, where the Olympic qualification will conclude, and medals for the European Championship will be contested in the first of two stages in German Oberhof. In early February, athletes will compete at the Olympic Games in Milan — Cortina d'Ampezzo.
