Germans take gold, silver in doubles luge World Cup race

LAKE PLACID, N.Y. (AP) — The German team of Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt had the fastest time in both runs Saturday on the way to winning a World Cup doubles luge race at Mount Van Hoevenberg.

Wendl and Arlt finished in 1 minute, 27.317 seconds. German teammates Toni Eggert and Sascha Benecken — who hadn’t lost a race at Lake Placid in more than six years — were second in 1:27.501, and Austria’s Thomas Steu and Lorenz Koller were third in 1:27.513.

The U.S. doubles sled of Chris Mazdzer and Jayson Terdiman was sixth after the first run, then crashed in the second trip down the track and failed to finish. That means the Americans will not have a spot in Sunday’s doubles sprint, where Mazdzer and Terdiman would have had a legitimate shot at a medal.

It was the first win for Wendl and Arlt at Lake Placid since the 2012-13 season. Eggert and Benecken had won all seven doubles races at Mount Van Hoevenberg since, until Saturday.

The women’s race at Lake Placid is later Saturday.