Demchenko, Ivanova and Linger-Linger
The track in Latvia seems to be a good place for Albert Demchenko – when Sigulda hosted the 42nd FIL European Luge Championships in 2010, he took the title ahead of Austria’s Wolfgang Kindl and Daniel Pfister. Admittedly, some of the top lugers did not compete at the Europeans prior to the Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver. This is why Tatiana Ivanova of Russia, Germany’s Corinna Martini and Nina Reithmayer of Austria capitalized on the absence of Huefner & company at the Europeans to divide the medals among themselves. Especially the European title for Ivanova, after all she finished in fourth position at the Games in Vancouver only some weeks later, came as a surprise. Austria’s Nina Reithmayer even topped her European bronze by a silver medal at the Olympic Games.
On the other hand, the eventual Olympic champions Wolfgang and Andreas Linger of Austria already demonstrated their strength in, taking the 2010 European title in Sigulda. This year’s overall World Cup winners Tobias Wendl-Tobias Arlt of Germany, who failed to qualify for the 2010 Olympic Games due to the strong competition of their then team-mate Florschuetz-Wustlich and Leitner-Resch earned silver at the Europeans ahead of the doubles’ with Schiegl-Schiegl of Austria.
2010 European Team Relay champions were the “local heroes” from Latvia, ahead of the team from Austria. Germany took the bronze medal.
