Clean sweep for Italy: all six single medals go to Italy Laas (ck) - Evelin Lanthaler is the old and the new European junior Champion. But defending her title was not as easy as the run times might suggest. “In the training runs my fellow Italians were all faster than me, so that I seriously started to doubt myself.” But the world cup experienced athlete did not let go: “I told myself that I can do that, too, and that I have good nerves and that I will have to give it all.” The success proved her right. With three fastest run times she raced towards the title. “I gave three times 200 percent and the competition was super tight”, she said and praised her team mates who ranked two through five behind her. With runner up Sarah Gruber a new face was seen on the podium. She laid the basis for her silver medal in her first run: “I had some margin from yesterday’s run, today I did not do so well”, said the student at the highschool for social issues in Brixen. She had not really dared to believe in winning a medal: “All the others could already gain some experience in the world cup, but then I told myself that I can do that, too.” Her next goals are a good result in the IC-Cup ranking and a spot in the strong Italian women’s team. Sarah Gruber’s school mate, Alexandra Obrist won the bronze medal. She has had her occasional chances in the world cup already and always left a good impression. “At school they know where I am when I do not show up in class. They already ask me how I did in the race”, said Obrist who already started training on an almost professional basis and who wants to become a permanent member in the Italian team selection. As well as in the women’s event, in the men’s race all medals went to Italy. Alex Gruber won gold with a narrow margin of seven hundredths of a second ahead of Lukas Brunner. “I was not so bad myself”, said Gruber, “but Lukas was clearly the faster one today. The track became softer and softer and I found it a bit difficult to adjust. My run yesterday definitely secured me the gold medal.” The season had not started well for the student at the Mals Sport School: “I had a crash in the training run at the world cup in Gsies and suffered a shoulder injury. I had to take a break and it is always difficult to come back after an injury, especially with such a strong team as ours with tough competition.” In today’s race his strongest opponent was Lukas Brunner from Verdings, who achieved the fastest time in the last two runs. “I really enjoyed the track here. I did not mind at all that the conditions changed, they were the same for everybody”, said Brunner, who attends a school for farming. “I had hoped for a medal, but I never would have thought that I would do that well.” Tobias Mair completed the Italian clean sweep and took bronze. The 17-year-old who is also a student at the Mals Sport School almost lost his medal in the last run: “My goal was to keep my position, but then I had a huge mistake at the beginning of the third run. I tried to make up for it and went full speed, thank God I made it.” He does not want to think about racing in the world cup – yet. “There are others who are faster than me. I guess I will wait a few more years”. In today’s race there were exactly two athletes faster than him. Results Junior Women (16): 1. Evelin LANTHALER (ITA), 1:02,13(1), 1:02,49(1), 1:02,83(1), 3:07,45 2. Sarah GRUBER (ITA), 1:02,17(2), 1:03,15(4), 1:03,42(4), 3:08,74 3. Alexandra OBRIST (ITA), 1:03,18(4), 1:02,74(2), 1:03,09(2), 3:09,01 4. Carmen PLANOETSCHER (ITA), 1:02,89(3), 1:03,08(3), 1:03,39(3), 3:09,36 5. Sara BACHMANN (ITA), 1:03,19(5), 1:03,73(5), 1:04,96(5), 3:11,88 6. Svetlana ZHARAVINA (RUS), 1:04,72(6), 1:06,00(7), 1:06,33(7), 3:17,05 7. Ljubov STARIKOVA (RUS), 3:18,23 8. Wioletta RYS (POL), 3:18,95 9. Sabrina PIMPL (AUT), 3:20,36 10. Daria MALEEVA (RUS), 3:21,63 Results Junior Men (30): 1. Alex GRUBER (ITA), 1:01,17(1), 1:01,77(2), 1:02,49(2), 3:05,43 2. Lukas BRUNNER (ITA), 1:01,63(2), 1:01,64(1), 1:02,23(1), 3:05,50 3. Tobias MAIR (ITA), 1:02,08(3), 11:02,31(3), 1:03,23(49, 3:07,62 4. Florian GLATZL (AUT), 1:02,17(4), 1:02,84(4), 1:03,41(7), 3:08,42 5. Stanilsav KOVSHIK (RUS), 1:02,97(8), 1:03,12(6), 1:02,67(3), 3:08,76 6. Patrick SALCHER (AUT), 1:02,51(5), 1:02,87(5), 1:03,46(8), 3:08,84 7. Martin KERSCHBAUMER (AUT), 3:09,38 8. Bernd NEURAUTER (AUT), 3:09,98 9. Lukasz GORYL (POL), 3:10,24 10. Dominik KIRCHMAIER (AUT), 3:11,68 TV-footage from the event can be seen at www.sporttime.tv!