Doubles, Open

The 1963 World Championships had been dominated by Poland, who took the first two places with Pędrak/Kudzia and Pawełkiewicz/Fender. While both couples also raced in Innsbruck, they only finished 5th and 7th, respectively. Their positions were taken by the home crews, Feistmantl/Stengl and Senn/Thaler from Austria. The former won the first run quite comfortably, and were able to let their compatriots take the second heat without seeing their lead challenged. At 25, Josef Feistmantl was already something of a veteran, having won a silver medal in the 1959 World Championships in the singles. He would continue competing into the 1970s, and was elected to light one of the flames at the 1976 opening ceremony, also in Innsbruck. His “passenger” in the sled was Manfred Stengl, two months shy of his 18th birthday. He later switched to bobsleigh, and won a bronze medal in the 1975 World Championships (4-man bob). He was also a fanatic motorcycle racer, winning several Austrian titles. He regularly competed in the Isle of Man TT, but was killed in competition when he crashed with his Suzuki in 1992.