Luge-Italians enjoy greatest night with double doubles gold

CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy, Feb 11 : Italian lugers enjoyed the greatest day of their long Olympic history on Wednesday, winning gold in both men’s and women’s doubles hugely against the odds as the time they had put in to learn every inch of their new Cortina track paid off spectacularly.

Andrea Voetter and Marion Oberhofer got things going with two silky runs to become the inaugural women’s doubles champions.

Things got even better when Emanuel Rieder and Simon Kainzwaldner, not even the country's top pair, surged through to win the men's doubles after a late mistake robbed the United States of what had looked to be a certain first gold in the sport.

    Voetter and Oberhofer's victory ended Germany's iron grip on woman's luge that had seen them win the last eight singles and three mixed team golds. They are the first Italian women to medal in the sport since Gerda Weissensteiner won the singles in 1994 – the last time any non-German woman took an Olympic luge gold.

 There is more of a pedigree on the men's side but it was the first men's doubles gold since 1984 and first Italian luge gold since current head coach Armin Zoeggler won his second singles title in 2006.

"It’s crazy. I can’t believe it, it’s incredible," said Rieder. "We had a good flow and a good feeling in training but I have no words, I've lost my voice I've been screaming too much." 

Voetter and Oberhofer came into the Games on the back of an underwhelming World Cup season but were right at home on the familiar ice with a fastest first run of 53.102 seconds.

German pair Dajana Eitberger and Magdalena Matschina and Austria’s World Cup leaders Selina Egle and Lara Kipp piled on the pressure but had to settle for silver and bronze respectively as Voetter and