FIL aqotec World Cup Natural Track Luge - Latzfons (ITA) - Day 2

 

FIL aqotec WORLD CUP

NATURAL TRACK LUGE

 

Press Information

Sunday, February 6^th, 2010

 

6^th – 8^th February 2010

Latzfons (ITA)

 

Renate Gietl (ITA) wins home race, Patrick Pigneter (ITA) once again in his own league

 

Renate Gietl (ITA) took revenge on her home track in Latzfons and is fully at ease now. Five years ago she came to Latzfons as the World Cup leader and had just won four consecutive races and yet was denied her home triumph. Ekatharina Lavrentjeva (RUS) won the race, Renate Gietl finished fourth. "With my win today a lot of pressure was taken from me. Winning is always more difficult at home and I am so happy that I could accomplish this today." But there had been a fraction of insecurity for her when she crossed the finish line: "I heard the speaker say 'second' and I saw the two on the board, but then eventually my name came up first." The 'two' had just indicated the run time and in fact, Lavrentjeva had been faster in the second run: exactly one hundredth of a second.

In the final ranking Lavrentjeva came second and she is already analysing the result: "My first run was not good. But my teammates also noticed that my start times were really bad.  I have to look into that and work at it. There is one race left this winter." Everything promises a breathtaking show-down in three weeks in Garmisch-Partenkirchen (GER) as Renate Gietl has not given up the fight yet: "I still do have a tiny idea of a chance."

Within no time Junior World Champion Evelin Lanthaler (ITA) has established herself as a serious contender for podium finishes. She finished third once again and seems to handle the pressure in the "adult world" really well.  "It seems that after my medal in the European Championships everything is going by itself. I know that I can perform well, I do not put too much pressure on myself and I am fully motivated.  I am quite nervous now and then, but I know that I am mentally strong.  My goal today was to defend my third place which I had in yesterday's first run."

 

In the Men's race, Patrick Pigneter (ITA) once again dominated his opponents.  And he almost became the victim of his own superiority: "This is one of my favourite tracks and I was so incredibly fast in the training runs that I almost slowed down a little too much in the first run.  I was really surprised to see that I was only 12 hundredths ahead." For the second run Pigneter relied on his training equipment and won without difficulties. He even had time enough to enjoy the cheers of the spectators at the finish: "There were really a lot of people along the track today.  We should have more races like this one, it is fantastic to have such an audience. This is a sign that our sport is on a good path."

The only athlete who could challenge Pigneter – at least in the first run – was fellow Italian Rudi Resch.  Resch was runner up the second time in Latsch two weeks ago. "I was a bit worried about the second run as I personally prefer a cold a hard track and because of the sunshine it had become soft." But he managed well and held onto second place.

The real battle was behind the two Italians for the third spot on the podium. Eventually Austria's Gernot Schwab – tied with Anton Blasbichler in fifth  place after the first run - was the lucky one. "This success means a lot to me. One month ago I was down on my belly here in Latzfons, today I am standing on the podium." In a training accident Schwab had injured his knee which had caused him to miss the European Championships. "I have never been so afraid as I was today. My knee is not stable yet, and with all the holes in the track due to the sunshine, I was afraid I would catch my foot in one of them. Really, all I wanted was to reach the finish without an injury. But then I heard the times of Robert Batkowski and Anton Blasbichler and I knew that I had to attack. I took full risk and I have succeeded ."

 

 

 

Final Result Women (17):

 

1. Renate GIETL (ITA), 1:03,64(1), 1:03,43(2), 2.07,07

2. Ekatharina LAVRENTJEVA (RUS), 1:03,69(2), 1:03,42(1), 2:07,11

3. Evelin LANTHALER (ITA), 1:03,87(3), 1:03,57(3), 2:07,44

4. Melanie BATKOWSKI (AUT), 1:04,63(4), 1:04,48(4), 2:09,11

5. Melanie SCHWARZ (ITA), 1:04,84(5), 1:04,85(5), 2:09,69

6. Marlies WAGNER (AUT), 1:05,33(7), 1:04,86(6), 2:10,19

7. Alexandra OBRIST (ITA), 1:05,31(6), 1:04,95(7), 2:10,26

8. Olga SIDOROVA (RUS), 1:06,02(8), 1:05,31(9), 2:11,33

9. Michaela MAURER (GER), 1:06,34(10), 1:05,12(8), 2:11,46

10. Tina UNTERBERGER (AUT), 1:06,39(11), 1:05,94(10), 2:12,33

 

Final Result Men (40):

 

1. Patrick PIGNETER (ITA), 1:02,36(1), 1:01,99(1), 2:04,35

2. Rudi RESCH (ITA), 1:02,48(2), 1:02,85(2), 2:05,33

3. Gernot SCHWAB (AUT), 1:02,89(5), 1:02,94(3), 2:05,83

4. Thomas KAMMERLANDER (AUT), 1:02,79(4), 1:03,20(6), 2:05,99

4. Anton BLASBICHLER (ITA), 1:02,89(5), 1:03,10(5), 2:05,99

6. Gerald KAMMERLANDER (AUT), 1:02,94(7), 1:03,07(4), 2:06,01

7. Alex GRUBER (ITA), 1:02,70(3), 1:03,75(11), 2:06,45

8. Robert BATKOWSKI (AUT), 1:03,28(10), 1:03,24(7), 2:06,52

9. Hannes CLARA (ITA), 2:06,67

10. Thomas SCHOPF (AUT), 2:06,79

11. Stefan GRUBER (ITA), 2.07,11

12. Georg MAURER (GER), 2:07,13

12. Michael SCHEIKL (AUT), 2:07,13

14. Kaj JOHNSON (CAN), 2:07,67

14. Jury TALYKH (RUS), 2:07,67

24. John GIBSON (CAN), 2.10,70

 

 

World Cup Standings (5/6):

 

Women:

 

1. Ekatharina LAVRENTJEVA (RUS)        455

2. Renate GIETL (ITA)                                425

3. Melanie BATKOWSKI (AUT)                  375

4. Evelin LANTHALER (ITA)                       310

5. Marlies WAGNER (AUT)                        267

6. Olga SIDOROVA (RUS)                         200

7. Tina UNTERBERGER (AUT)                 179

8. Veronika NACHMANN (GER)                178

9. Melanie SCHWARZ (ITA)                       155

10. Ludmila ASTRAMOVISH (RUS)           148

13. Michaela MAURER (GER)                   127

 

Men:

 

1. Patrick PIGNETER (ITA)                         440

2. Thomas SCHOPF (AUT)                         332

3. Rudi RESCH (ITA)                                   313

4. Thomas KAMMERLANDER (AUT)        294

5. Anton BLASBICHLER (ITA)                    271

6. Gernot SCHWAB (AUT)                          246

7. Hannes CLARA (ITA)                              224

8. Stefan GRUBER (ITA)                             214

9. Gerald KAMMERLANDER (AUT)           202

10. Robert BATKOWSKI (AUT)                  165

11. Michael SCHEIKL (AUT)                       159

12. Kaj JOHNSON (CAN)                            156

34. John GIBSON (CAN)                               40

 

 

Complete result lists can be found at www.fil-luge.org under results or events

 

 

 

Chris Karl

FIL Media Service

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