At present, only men's doubles is part of the flagship tour alongside the men's and women's singles and the team relay.

There has been a push to develop women's doubles, however, amid International Olympic Committee demands for gender equality across all of its sports.

Women's doubles workshops have been held and a proposal will be made by the FIL to introduce the discipline on the Junior World Cup circuit from next winter.

This move will follow its introduction for the first time at the Lausanne 2020 Winter Youth Olympic Games in January.

Germany's Jessica Degenhardt and Vanessa Schneider won the inaugural gold medal at the Swiss Games, clocking a combined time of 1min 51.443sec.

Duos from Canada and Latvia finished second and third respectively. 

In December, Canada's Caitlin Nash and Natalie Corless made history by becoming the first women's team to compete in a men's doubles World Cup race.

The 16-year-olds finished 22nd out of 23 on home ice in Whistler.