Since her gold medal in the team event in last years World Championships Austrian Melanie Batkowski has been put more and more into the role of the clear favourite. “I knew that and I wanted to win this title today, but I know very well that no medal is given before the race. The pressure from the Italians was not to underestimate and my runs have not been perfect. So I am very, very happy that I ended up with the gold medal”, said the 17-year-old new Champion. Runner up Tamara Schwarz was happy herself, considering that she had come close to a fall in her last run: “In my third run I had a huge mistake, so I am glad that I reached the finish. A medal was my dream, now I am the silver medallist, enough reason to be satisfied”.

Another one who had to deal with his role as the number one contender for the gold medal was the Italian Patrik Pigneter. After having won the doubles event he also won the single event. “The result looks like this was no problem for me, but in reality I found it much more difficult here than in the World Cup”, the leader in the overall World Cup said. “In the World Cup there is no pressure for me, but here I had all eyes on me and everybody expected me to win. The first run was a bit difficult because I had to readjust from double to single, the second run was really good, in the third I did not take full risk any more”, he added. The new face on the podium was runner up Christian Schwarz (ITA), who celebrated the biggest success in his young career. “I finished fourth in last years Junior European Championships, I was fourth again after todays first run. I had nothing to lose, I took full risk in my third run”, the 17-year-old farmer explained. The bronze medal went to Austrias rookie of the year, Thomas Schopf, who is aged 16 already silver medallist in the senior ´s European Championships: “My first and second runs were ok, but at the end the track had become very soft and I am not satisfied at all with my third run, but I am satisfied with the result as such.”

Final results:

Women (18):
1. Melanie BATKOWSKI (AUT), 1:14,37(1), 1:12,90(1), 1:13,83(1), 3:41,10
2. Tamara SCHWARZ (ITA), 1:14,92(2), 1:13,19(2), 1:14,10(2), 3:42,21
3. Imelda GRUBER (ITA), 1:1:15,36(3), 1:13,72(3), 1:14,12(3), 3:43,20
4. Oksana ELESINA (RUS), 1:15,87(5), 1:14,34(5), 1:14,20(4), 3:44,41
5. Marisa CLARA (ITA), 1:15,78(4), 1:14,15(4), 1:15,34(5), 3:45,27
6. Melanie SCHWARZ (ITA), 1:16,02(6), 1:15,43(6), 1:15,95(7), 3:47,40
7. Kinga GAWLAS (POL), 1:16,99(8), 1:15,48(7), 1:15,74(6), 3:48,21
8. Nina BUCINEL (SLO), 1:17,39(10), 1:15,79(9), 1:16,12(8), 3:49,30
9. Alena ASCHEULOVA (RUS), 1:17,02(9), 1:16,29(10), 1:16,15(9), 3:49,46
10. Sandra MAYERHOFER (AUT), 1:18,13(13), 1:15,74(8), 1:16,59(13), 3:50,46

Men (37):
1. Patrik PIGNETER (ITA), 1:14,65(1), 1:11,64(1), 1:12,92(2), 3:39,21
2. Christian SCHWARZ (ITA), 1:15,40(4), 1:1:12,28(3), 1:12,80(1), 3:40,48
3. Thomas SCHOPF (AUT), 1:15,02(3), 1:12,26(2), 1:13,85(7), 3:41,13
4. Hannes CLARA (ITA), 1:14,72(2), 1:12,62(4), 1:13,87(8), 3:41,21
5. Dominik WAGNER (AUT), 1:16,02(12), 1:12,88(5), 1:12,96(3), 3:41,86
6. Philipp ANTHOLZER (ITA), 1:15,76(6), 1:13,12(7), 1:13,23(4), 3:42,11
7. Michael SCHEIKL (AUT), 1:15,78(7), 1:13,45(10), 1:13,79(6), 3:43,02
8. Thomas KAMMERLANDER (AUT), 1:16,45(14), 1:13,20(8), 1:13,51(5), 3:43,16
9. Robert STADLER (AUT), 1:15,91(8), 1:13,02(6), 1:14,25(11), 3:43,18
10. Ervin MARN (SLO), 1:15,96(10), 1:13,32(9), 1:13,91(9), 3:43,19
11. Christian WICHAN (GER), 1:15,93(9), 1:13,45(10), 1:14,09(10), 3:43,47
12. Miha MEGLIC (SLO), 1:16,18(13), 1:13,56(12), 1:14,51(13), 3:44,25
16. Julien SCHULTZ (USA), 1:16,62(15), 1:14,66(17), 1:15,27(18), 3:46,55