Eggert and Benecken secure pre-PyeongChang 2018 titles

The German duo are yet to win an Olympic medal but on recent form, they will be right in the mix for not just a podium finish but also gold.

Already the reigning world champions, Eggert and Benecken rounded off the current World Cup campaign in style, posting the fastest times across both their runs in Latvia on Saturday to finish with a combined time of 1:23.364 and seal yet another doubles European crown after wins in 2013 and 2016.

That was enough to deny home favourites Andris and Juris Sics gold in front of their fans as they were edged out by 0.055 seconds.

Benecken said: "It's so cool. Not only are we European Champions but we also defended our overall World Cup title.

"We are also the reigning World and German Champions, so we currently have four titles to our name. As kids we dreamed of an Olympic victory, but we need to keep our feet on the ground."

Olympic champions Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt provided a timely reminder to their German compatriots that they are still very much a force to be reckoned with though, as they took third spot on the podium.

Three-time world champion Arlt said: "We're pretty satisfied. We're getting closer, and we've worked to improve our equipment. We made errors at the start of both runs, not that anyone will have noticed but it rankles a bit."

Sportsbeat 2018