Final Results - World Championships 2009

Team Canada reports on the end of the World Championships.

Two photo finishes decided both the women's and men's World Championships here in Passeier, Italy today.  Renate Gietl from Italy won her crown by merely three hundredths in front of Russia's Ekaterina Lavrentjeva.  In the men's race it was by four hundredths that Patrick Pigneter clinched his title narrowly from the young Thomas Kammerlander who finished in second.  Renate Kasslatter and Thomas Schopf won the bronze medals in the women's and men's categories respectivley.

As for the Canadian boys, John Gibson had a strong race and fought off many contenders to maintain a respectful top-20 finish.  Greg was fighting an injury he sustained during the doubles race but impressed everyone by placing 23rd despite his obvious pain.  Kaj unfortunately was unable to solve his equipment issues before the end of the race and finished in 25th position.

This morning the guys sucured their final visa arrangments and are off to Russia tomorrow for the final two World Cup races.  In the overall standings Greg is currently in 35th place, John is in 27th, and Kaj is in 15th.  Wish them luck and think fast as they make their final push of the 2008/2009 season.

All for now,

The Canadian Team

Race Day One - World Championships 2009

New doubles World Champions were crowned to day in the Valley of Passeier.  Patrick Pigneter and Florian Clara made their home crowd proud by dominating the field by eight tenths to steal the show.  The young Schopf brothers took the silver with a solid performance and coming in third were the veteran Polish team who appear to be on a comeback streak.  

As for the Canadians, Greg and Kaj had a solid first run leaving them in 11th position for the second.  They pushed it, and the boards answered.  However, despite hitting hard in a few locations on the run, they managed to hold their placing and are quite proud.  

The singles race also began today and will conclude tomorrow.  Even with a soar leg, Greg had his best time on this track and sits in 22nd.  John had a good start to his race and is sitting in 18th at the moment.  And struggling with his equipment, Kaj is currently in 24th.

Included are a photo of Kaj and Greg on their doubles run, and Greg in one of his singles training runs.

All for now,

The Canadian Team

30th European Junior Championships in Lungiarue (ITA), Feb 6th to 8th, 2009

Gold Medals for Thomas Schopf (AUT), Evelin Lanthaler (ITA) and Kammerlander/Regensburger (AUT) After one day off due to the heavy snowfalls, the European Junior Championships have been held in one day and with only two runs for the single seater events. Austria´s rookie Thomas Schopf, who already drew attention with three World Cup podiums, is the new European Junior Champion. Local hero Hannes Clara had to settle for silver. Schopf was in the lead after the first run already and his tactics for the second run were quite simple: "I had some mistakes in my first run, so I thought without these mistakes the time would be fast enough to win the race and I tried not to repeat the mistakes." The result proved him right. Hannes Clara was ranked third after the first run and managed to improve his result to win the silver medal. "I am very happy about the result. In my first run I had a problem in the upper part, in the second run I had a mistake at the end, so I am very satisfied that eventually I finished second." Thomas Kammerlander took the bronze medal. After having won two consecutive European titles in 2005 and 2007, Melanie Batkowski (AUT) had been beaten in her last start as a junior. She expressed her respect for the new Champion Evelin Lanthaler: "She had two great runs, I would not have been able to match her times here. I already have two titles, she has deserved hers today." Evelin Lanthaler upset her competitors with two excellent run-times. "I really had a great race today", she said. She had not expected to win the race, even though had hoped for a medal: "I did not have much chance to practise here, but I knew that I was in pretty good shape. Now and then I achieved training times close to Renate Gietl." Gietl has won the first three World Cup races of the season and is one of the top medal contenders for next week´s World Championships in Moos/Passeier – which is exactly where Evelin Lanthaler comes from. With her newly won title she will definitely be good for a medal on her home track. The bronze medal took Alexandra Obrist (ITA). In the doubleseater´s event Thomas Kammerlander/Christoph Regensburger (AUT) could benefit from their World Cup experience and won the junior title. Their Austrian team-mates Rupert Brüggler/Tobias Angerer finished second. Poland´s Damian Fender/Dawid Jachnicki took the bronze medal and will try to follow their team-mates traces: with ten World Cup wins Andrzej Laszczak/Damian Waniczek are the currently most successful still active double in the World Cup. Please click here to view results.  All photos (c) Hermann Sobe

Evelin Lanthaler (ITA) Medalists women's singles Thomas Schopf (AUT) Medalists doubles

30th European Junior Championships in Lungiarue (ITA), Feb 6th to 8th, 2009

European Junior Championships with World Cup Stars Once again the luge community will come to the Italian mountains to the tiny village with the three names: Lungiarue is the original ladinic version, Longirú the Italian and Campill the German name. But while at past occasions World Cup races had been held in Lungiarue, this time the junior racers will meet to fight for the titles of the European Champion. Two years ago in St. Sebastian (AUT) Melanie Batkowski (AUT), Patrick Pigneter (ITA) and Patrick Pigneter/Florian Clara (ITA) had won the titles. Only Melanie Batkowski is young enough (she will turn 20 during the current season) to compete once again and have a go at trying to defend her title. Next to Batkowski, there is also Evelyn Lanthaler (ITA) who already has earned her merits in the World Cup. Just one week ago in Deutschnofen/Nova Ponente Lanthaler could celebrate her first podium finish in a World Cup when she finished second. In the men´s event Hannes Clara is the local hero from Longiarue. He, too, is an experiences World Cup athlete, so far he has achieved four top-three results, being runner up once and three times third. His toughest competitor might be Thomas Schopf (AUT) who has been the World Cup rookie of this season. He has finished on the podium in each single race so far, something no other athlete has managed – not even Italy´s World Cup leader Patrick Pigneter. Just like Hannes Clara, Thomas Schopf has yet to win a race, but he finished second once and two times third. The double seater´s event lacks clear contenders as all the top athletes in the World Cup are no longer juniors. So this event will be the opportunity for some newcomers to make their names familiar. Training runs will be held on Friday, the competition will start on Saturday. Like in all Championships – as opposed to the World Cup – there will be three runs for the singe seaters. Track Info: Length: 1147m Elevation of start: 1632m above sea level Elevation of finish: 1500m Difference: 132m Maximum Descent: 36% Minimum Descent: 0,5%

Melanie Batkowski (AUT) Hannes Clara (ITA) Photos (c) Hermann Sobe

2009 Natural Track World Cup #4 Deutschnofen, Italy

Here is Team Canada's recap from the latest World Cup.

This track was brand new for all three of us.  Luckily we had had one day of training here two weeks ago.  This provided us with some familiarity upon entering the race.  On the doubles front, Greg and Kaj had found some fantastic training in Campil, Italy.  They spent the week becoming more comfortable with higher speeds and by the end were super excited about how fast they were now going. 

 

As per usual, the doubles were featured first on Saturday with the women and men to follow.  Having all the competition runs on the same day meant that Greg and Kaj would have a full day with five runs in total.  They were very happy with their doubles performance and found that they were already showing signs of competitiveness by beating their Ukrainian buddies and finishing in 10^th place.

 

Following the doubles race was the singles event.  This took place sans sun under the questionable illumination of the track lights.  In some sections of the track additional lighting had been added in an attempt to rid shadowy sections.  The additional lights were of a different colour and still failed to correct all of the track's shadows.  This caused the track to be lit in three different ways.  There could be a shadowy section, followed by a yellow corner, followed by a white straight for example.  This made it extremely difficult to pick out the different aspects of the track needed for precise driving that are normally consistent under day light or an adequate lighting system.  And for a terrifying moment, the entire field held their breath when a section of straight away lighting blacked out and the back up system failed to instantly correct the problem.  Much to every one's relief, the athlete was able to brake safely to a stop and given a re-run.

 

As for our results, Greg was not overly pleased with his 29^th place but found a victory in being able to cope with the terrible lighting conditions despite his colour blindness.  A mistake in a critical corner during John's first run pushed him down to 27^th position.  He did however find redemption in the night with a much better second run and moved up two positions into 25^th place.  Kaj was disappointed with his performance but found solace in his 20^th position knowing that his top 20 streak was maintained.

 

We are now in the Passeier Valley in Italy where the World Championships are going to be held in two weeks.  We are fortunate enough to have a full three days of training here before moving on.  During next week's break we are looking forward to going "home" to Olang and seeing familiar faces and a familiar track.

 

All for now,

 

The Canadian Natural Luge Team

2009 FIL PEWO World Cup Standings (4/6 Races)

The FIL PEWO World Cup Standings as of Sunday February 1st, 2009:

Women:
1. Renate GIETL (ITA)_ Points Todate 370
2. Ekatharina LAVRENTJEVA (RUS)_ Points Todate 340
3. Melanie BATKOWSKI (AUT)_ Points Todate 285
4. Evelyn LANTHALER (ITA)_ Points Todate 250
5. Renate KASSLATTER (ITA)_ Points Todate 221
6. Julia VETLOVA (RUS)_ Points Todate 192
6. Marlies WAGNER (AUT)_ Points Todate 192
8. Tamara SCHWARZ (ITA)_ Points Todate 173
9. Tina UNTERBERGER (AUT)_ Points Todate 148
10. Katrin MLADEK (AUT)_ Points Todate 137


Men:
1. Patrick PIGNETER (ITA)_ Points Todate 331
2. Thomas SCHOPF (AUT)_ Points Todate 271
3. Gerald KAMMERLANDER (AUT)_ Points Todate 262
4. Robert BATKOWSKI (AUT)_ Points Todate 224
5. Michael SCHEIKL (AUT)_ Points Todate 222
6. Gernot SCHWAB (AUT)_ Points Todate 220
7. Hannes CLARA (ITA)_ Points Todate 211
8. Anton BLASBICHLER (ITA)_ Points Todate 199
9. Florian BREITENBERGER (ITA)_ Points Todate 151
10. Stefan GRUBER (ITA)_ Points Todate 148
15. Kaj JOHNSON (CAN)_ Points Todate 100
27. John GIBSON (CAN)_ Points Todate 56
35. Greg JONES (CAN)_ Points Todate 34

Doubles:
1. Patrick PIGNETER/Florian CLARA (ITA) _ Points Todate 370
2. Pawel PORSCHNEV/Ivan LAZAREV (RUS)_ Points Todate 345
3. Christian SCHOPF/Andreas SCHOPF (AUT)_ Points Todate 265
4. Andrzej LASZCZAK/Damian WANICZEK (POL)_ Points Todate 236
5. Christian SCHATZ/Gerhard MÜHLBACHER (AUT)_ Points Todate 225
6. Thomas WEISS/Andreas LEITER (ITA)_ Points Todate 216
7. Aleksandr EGEROV/Aleksandr POPOV (RUS)_ Points Todate 203
8. Stanislav KOVSHIK/Roman MOLVISTOV (RUS)_ Points Todate 156
12. Kaj JOHNSON/Greg JONES (CAN)_ Points Todate 70

Canadians in Action - Photos from Deutschnofen

Chris Karl with the FIL has come through again and provided us with some photos of team canada in action at the just completed World Cup Event in Deutschnhofen.

Kaj's performance earned him 21 World Cup points but that still dropped him two places in the over all standings, from 13th to 15th.


Greg earned 12 World Cup points to maintain his 35th place position.


In just their second event of the year Kaj and Greg earned 36 World Cup points to maintain their 12th place position in the doubles standings.


I didn't get a picture of John but his performance this weekend also saw him slip two place in the World Cup standings, from 25th to 27th.

On the positive side it looks like each of the Canadians improved his times over the course of the event, having a faster time in their second run than they did in their first. For example, John went from 0:58.03 in the first run to 0:56.74 in his second.

FIL PEWO World Cup - Deutschnofen, Wrap Up

Press Information Saturday, January 31st, 2009
PEWO World Cup/January 30th - 31st 2009 Deutschnofen/Nova Ponente (ITA)


Lavrentjeva back on top, Pigneter wins in doubles and singles

In a spectacular race with an interruption due to a light problem the new World Cup leader Patrick Pigneter showed excellent nerves. His Italian teammate, Hannes Clara, had to stop his run and repeat it as the lights went off in a stretch of the track during his run. At the top Pigneter and Thomas Schopf, ranked second after the first run, had to wait for Clara to walk back to the start and retake his run.

“It was difficult”, said Pigneter who won in the doubles as well as the singles event within one day. “It is already exhausting to build up the right focus four times in a day, but today it was five times. But I had an excellent run and I felt really good.”
After two third place finishes Austria´s Thomas Schopf achieved his best career result by coming in second. “I managed to keep cool. I had two small mistakes in my run, but altogether I am glad that I did pretty well in spite of the situation with the light.”

Most affected of course was Hannes Clara who went through an emotional rollercoaster: “I saw that it was dark ahead of me, but first I thought it was just one lamp which did not work. When I saw that a whole section of the track was dark, I just stopped. First I felt like in a shock, I was not my usual self and everything felt strange. But then I had a cup of tea and tried to focus again”, said Clara who finished third.

On the women's side Russia´s record breaker is back on top: Ekatharina Lavrentjeva has won her first race in this season and the 26th of her career. With Evelyn Lanthaler (ITA) as runner up a new face was seen on the podium: “So far a fifth place was my best result so my goal was to finish fourth. Even though my training performance was good I never would have thought that I could do so well here.” She is still a junior, so her next race will be next week´s European Junior Championships before she will return to her hometown Moos/Passeier for the World Championships.

Serial winner Renate Gietl (ITA) had to settle for the third place. “I had a mistake in the first run which caused the time gap which I did not manage to make up for in the second run. But I have had three perfect races this season, so I am still satisfied”, she said.

“The World Championships in two weeks are our most important goal in this season and of course it is great that right now everything is going so well for us”, said Patrick Pigneter after his second consecutive win in the doubles event. But he also concedes it was not an easy win: “This track has its three or four key passages and if you make a mistake there, you lose.” As it turns out, Pigneter and team mate Florain Clara did not make any mistakes and won with a margin of more than half a second. Russia´s Pawel Porschnev/Ivan Lazarev finished second, but have definitely not given up their hopes for the overall PEWO World Cup. With only 25 points behind Pigneter/Clara they will start into the grand final which will be held in their home country, in Ekaterinburg.

Third went to Christian and Andreas Schopf (AUT) who seem to be in top shape for the World Championships and believe that they can do even better: “We have tried a lot of different things with our equipment early in the season, but now we have found the perfect setup. Still, we are making little mistakes and losing time. We are happy with the result today, but the runs were not as good as they could have been.” They will go straight from Deutschnofen/Nova Ponente to Passeier to do some practise runs on the track there. “But we will not stay there all the time, we will practise on different tracks and get as much time on the sled as we can.”

There will be a three weeks break in the PEWO World Cup before the grand final in Ekaterinburg, Russia, with two races starting on February 22nd.


Final Results:

Women (16):
1. Ekatharina LAVRENTJEVA (RUS), 0:55,25(1), 0:55,27(1), 1:50,52
2. Evelyn LANTHALER (ITA), 0:55,50(3), 0:55,40(2), 1:50,90
3. Renate GIETL (ITA), 0:55,49(2), 0:55,43(3), 1:50,92
4. Melanie BATKOWSKI (AUT), 0:55,67(4), 0:56,08(4), 1:51,75
5. Renate KASSLATTER (ITA), 0:56,93(9), 0:56,55(5), 1:53,48
6. Tamara SCHWARZ (ITA), 0:56,54(5), 0:57,08(8), 1:53,62
7. Julia VETLOVA (RUS), 0:56,61(6), 0:57,07(7), 1:53,68
8. Michaela MAURER (GER), 0:56,82(8), 0:56,89(6), 1:53,71
9. Tina UNTERBERGER (AUT), 1:53,93
10. Marlies WAGNER (AUT), 1:54,31



Men (39):
1. Patrick PIGNETER (ITA), 0:53,51(1), 0:54,12(1), 1:47,63
2. Thomas SCHOPF (AUT), 0:53,88(2), 0:54,44(2), 1:48,32
3. Hannes CLARA (ITA), 0:54,03(3), 0:54,64(4), 1:48,67

4. Anton BLASBICHLER (ITA), 0:54,59(6), 0:54,47(3), 1:49,06
5. Rudi RESCH (ITA), 0:54,45(4), 0:54,6(5), 1:49,12
6. Andreas CASTIGLIONI (ITA), 0:54,74(7), 0:54,80(6), 1:49,54
7. Stefan GRUBER (ITA), 0:54,47(5), 0:55,15(7), 1:49,62
8. Michael SCHEIKL (AUT), 0:55,03(9), 0:55,21(8), 1:50,24
9. Robert BATKOWSKI (AUT), 1:50,50
10. Gernot SCHWAB (AUT), 1:50,52
11. Damian WANICZEK (POL), 1:50,94
12. Florian BATKOWSKI (AUT), 1:50,96
13. Gerald KAMMERLANDER (AUT), 1:50,97
14. Georg MAURER (GER), 1:51,00
20. Kaj JOHNSON (CAN), 1:53,28
25. John GIBSON (CAN), 1:54,77
29. Greg JONES (CAN), 1:58,33


Doubles (12):
1. Patrick PIGNETER/Florian CLARA (ITA), 0:57,77 (1), 0:57,70(1), 1:55,47
2. Pawel PORSCHNEV/Ivan LAZAREV (RUS), 0:58,33(2), 0:58,47(2), 1:56,80
3. Christian SCHOPF/Andreas SCHOPF (AUT), 0:58,54(3), 0:58,65(3), 1:57,19
4. Aleksandr EGEROV/Petr POPOV (RUS), 0:58,96(4), 0:59,05(4), 1:58,01
5. Thomas WEISS/Andreas LEITER(ITA), 0:59,41(5), 0:59,34(5), 1:58,75
6. Christian SCHATZ/Gerhard MÜHLBACHER (AUT), 0:59,79(7), 0:59,48(6), 1:59,48
7. Andrzej LASZCZAK/Damian WANICZEK (POL), 1:59,58
8. Christoph KNAUDER/Thomas KNAUDER (AUT), 2:00,70
10. Kaj JOHNSON/Greg JONES (CAN), 1:02,62(10), 1:02,52(10), 2:05,14

All Photos Credit: FIL/Sobe