Doubles, Open

The defending champions from East Germany, Hans Rinn and Norbert Hahn, had become World Champions in 1977, and won the European title in 1978 and 1980. But as in the women’s competition, the Soviets had joined the top nations when, Dainis Bremze and Aigars Krikis (both Latvians) had won the World Championships in 1978. The West Germans put their hopes on the defending World Champions, Hans Brandner and Balthasar Schwarm, who had won silver in Innsbruck four years earlier. But these latter two duos would not impress at Lake Placid. Bremze suffered from a hand injury and they placed only 11th, while Brandner/Schwarm disappointed in 6th. Instead, Rinn and Hahn won the first run, and placed second in the final run to become the first sliders to retain their Olympic title. Behind them, Gschnitzer/Brunner won silver for Italy, and Fluckinger/Schrott took Austria’s only luge medal in 1980.