Italian duo Andrea Vötter and Marion Oberhofer zoomed to victory in the inaugural Olympics luge women's doubles on Wednesday, picking up a third gold so far for the hosts. While women could theoretically have competed in doubles at previous Winter Games given it was an open category,

Men's doubles luge has Olympic fans asking why two-man luge is a thing originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here. Luge is one of those events at the Winter Olympics that draws some questions. And, well, that's before you even get to two-man luge, otherwise known as men's double luge.

CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) — Andrea Voetter and Marion Oberhofer hadn't won a race this season on the World Cup circuit. They weren't even contenders in many of them. Ah, the comforts of home. A little Italian ice changed everything — and the first women's doubles luge champions in Olympic history are a pair of Italians who stared down the best teams in the world on Wednesday night.

Farquharson sealed the bronze medal with a strong fourth run, earning just the seventh U.S. Olympic luge medal ever, men or women.

Women’s doubles luge officially became an Olympic sport on Wednesday, debuting at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.

CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) — Ashley Farquharson crossed the finish line, looked at the giant scoreboard at the end of the track and then immediately began to cry. A happy cry, at that. A very happy cry.

CNN Sports has all the latest from Day 5 of the Winter Olympics, including Chloe Kim, the return of NHL players to the Games and more. Follow for live updates.

The first went to Switzerland’s Franjo von Allmen, who added Alpine skiing’s super-G to his downhill and team combined titles. U.S. star Ryan Cochran-Siegle repeated his Beijing feat with a fine silver. Then the U.S. took both gold and silver via Elizabeth Lemley and Jaelin Kauf in the freestyle women’s moguls.

With women competing in doubles in luge for the first time, here's what to know about the fastest sport in the Winter Olympics

Watch and follow Winter Olympics action, with Team GB's Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson going for a figure skating medal later on day five.

Ashley Farquharson became the second American woman ever and first in 12 years to win an Olympic medal in luge Tuesday.