Eitberger Now Shares Doubles With Matschina

Berchtesgaden (BSD-FIL/01 Jul 2024) Dajana Eitberger will be racing with a new partner in doubles from the coming season. The new girl is Magdalena Matschina.

The 33-year-old silver medal winner at the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Games in Women’s Singles, Eitberger decided after last winter to form a doubles team with Magdalena Matschina on the way to the 2026 Winter Olympics.

The "Eitberger/Matschina" team is already preparing intensively for the coming winter with the highlight of the season, the 53rd FIL World Championships in Whistler, Canada (February 5-8, 2025).

For Eitberger, this is not the first major change in her competitive career. Until the end of February 2023, she competed in Women's Singles for 21 years. Last winter, the Ilmenau native then tried her hand at the women's doubles, together with 20-year-old Saskia Schirmer. At the World Championships in Altenberg at the end of January 2024, the pair won gold in the team relay with Max Langenhan, Julia Taubitz and Wendl/Arlt.

After the 2023/24 season, Eitberger has now decided to team up with a new doubles partner. Magdalena Matschina already has experience in doubles, formed a team with Annika Krause for some time and is 19 years old. According to Eitberger, the chemistry was right from the start, as was the idea of pursuing this sporting path together. The goal: the 2026 Olympics.

"I want to make the most of every opportunity, and I need to know that I have given my all towards the 2026 Olympic Games to possibly be the one sled that goes to the start line."

The new team Eitberger/Matschina has already experienced a joint training course when the entire German national luge team was at Lake Garda with new head coach Patric Leitner at the end of May. This week (July 1-5), the first start training course will take place in Oberhof, where the two will officially perform and train together for the first time.

"We want to use the time in Oberhof to intensify our training and our coordination on the sled. And it will also serve to give us an initial indication of our direction with our internal rivals Jessica Degenhardt and Cheyenne Rosenthal at the start. Whether this was not only the right decision - but I'm convinced it was - but also to see if we can get a little closer to Degenhardt/Rosenthal. In view of the coming winter, when we have the World Championships in Whistler and the start is essential, the distance on the track is simply too short to be able to make up any ground. Our main task is to get to the front of this strong field at the start in order to close the gap. Last winter, we were always six hundredths behind the others."

Women's Doubles has been a permanent discipline in the EBERSPAECHER World Cup since the 2021/22 season and will celebrate its Olympic premiere at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan/Cortina.

photos: BSD