The 37th Junior European Championships in natural track luge ended on Sunday in Mariazell (AUT) with the singles race and the team competition. In the women's singles Sarah Schiller (GER) was in a league of her own, so did Fabian Brunner (ITA) in the men's singles. In the team competition, Italy secured the gold medal.

The Juniors European Champions 2023: Fabian Brunner (ITA) and Sarah Schiller (GER)

Mariazell (FIL/05.02.2023) The "Sigmundsberg"-track demanded everything from the young luge atheltes in the title fights. Sarah Schiller was able to adapt best to the difficult conditions. The German already showed strong performances in training and showed her class in the race. The 18-year-old from Unterammergau snatched the gold medal in 1:13.73 minutes, ahead of Jenny Castiglioni (ITA/+1.01 seconds) and Tina Stuffer (ITA/+1.49 seconds). With the victory, Schiller is following in the footsteps of her teammate Lisa Walch, who was crowned Junior European Champion in Jaufental/Val Giovo (ITA) in 2021.

(from left) Jenny Castiglioni (ITA), Sarah Schiller (GER) and Tina Stuffer (ITA)

Sarah Schiller (GER): “I still can't believe it. The season – especially at the beginning – did not go very well. And now I have the gold medal. I'm overjoyed, after all it's my first major title."
Jenny Castiglioni (ITA): “I am very happy about this medal. I had great difficulties in training. All in all, a nice finish of a perfect season.”
Tina Stuffer (ITA): “Third place is great, I didn't expect that. And big compliments to Sarah and Jenny”.

In the men's singles, defending champion Fabian Brunner (ITA) fully completed with the expectations. The 19-year-old South Tyrolean dominated both training runs and was the only runner to remain below the mark of 1:12 minutes in the race with a time of 1:11.05 minutes. Hannes Unterholzner (ITA/+1.11 sec.), who won the gold medal with his partner Anton Gruber Genetti (ITA) in doubles on Saturday evening, snatched the silver medal, followed by Sebastian Feldhammer (AUT/+1.69 seconds).

(from left) Hannes Unterholzner (ITA), Fabian Brunner (ITA) and Sebastian Feldhammer (AUT)

Fabian Brunner (ITA): “It was an almost flawless run, there is nothing to complain about. But I never thought that my advantage would be so big”.
Hannes Unterholzner (ITA): “I didn't really get it going in the upper section, I only had a good feeling in the lower section. Leaving the European Junior Championships with gold and silver is fantastic”.
Sebastian Feldhammer (AUT): “Winning a medal in front of my friends and family at the European Championships at home is a great end to a messed-up season. It's a shame that I wasn't able to show this performance from the beginning."

The Junior European Championships ended with the team competition on Sunday afternoon. Italy (Jenny Castiglioni/Fabian Brunner) won the gold medal in 2:28.14 minutes, ahead of Austria (Naomi Thöni/Sebastian Feldhammer) and Slovenia (Meta Mekina/Ziga Kralj). It was the first time that a team competition was held in junior class title fights.

medal table
1. Italy 3/3/1
2. Germany 1/0/0
3. Austria 0/1/1
4. Slovenia 0/0/2