Steu and Koller head Austrian one-two at Innsbruck

Thomas Steu and Lorenz Koller headed an Austrian one-two to record a fairytale doubles victory on their home track at Innsbruck-Igls on the opening weekend of the 2020/21 Luge World Cup.

The pair came home in 1:19.253, just over two-hundredths of a second clear of compatriots Yannick Muller and Armin Frauscher, to back up the Nations Cup victory they recorded at the same track on Friday.

It marked a fifth World Cup event win for the duo, whose participation in this year's competition was in doubt earlier this year as Steu recovered from breaking his tibia in January.

The 26-year-ld is still not at full strength, admitting afterwards that "it is not always easy in everyday training with the injury, because I can't do everything yet", but he was fit enough to take home a victory which meant a lot to the pair despite the lack of a home crowd to cheer them on, with the event taking place behind closed doors.

"Today is a great day – a one-two for Austria hasn't happened in Igls for a long time", Steu said.

"We are happy for the other two [Muller and Frauscher], but all the more for us. I didn't think that it would work out so well right away."

Koller added: "It's not only the first World Cup of the season where you don't know exactly where you stand, but last season we had the heavy crash, so I was already very tense. Fortunately, Thomas is very relaxed and cool there."

The final place on the podium was taken by German duo Toni Eggert and Sascha Benecken in 1:19.533 after they recovered from a tricky start to edge out fellow countrymen Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt, who had to settle for fourth.

"The pilot tried to steer too hard," Eggert said, referring to their early error. "That was a bit over the limit. These are mistakes that happen."

Benecken, who like Steu is on the comeback trail having injured his cervical spine in a crash, added: "Of course we still have some homework to do, but at least it is something we can build on."

Reigning doubles world champions Vladislav Antonov and Alexander Denisiev were forced to pull out of the opening weekend of this season's World Cup due to Antonov testing positive for coronavirus.

The action continues at Innsbruck on Sunday with the women's singles and team relay events.

Sportsbeat 2020