Paramonovo (pps) It was a big red-white-red party: Thanks to the “help” of their teammates Peter Penz-Georg Fischler, the Austrian team of brothers Andreas and Wolfgang Linger were able to finally complete their title collection. While the World bronze medalists Penz-Fischler claimed gold at the 43rd European Championships of the International Luge Federation (FIL) in Paramonovo, Russia, the three-time World and two-time Olympic Champions won their career-first overall victory in the Viessmann Luge World Cup series. Tobias Wendl-Tobias Arlt of Germany, who would have taken the overall World Cup crown with a victory in Paramonovo, were second.
After a botched first run, Linger-Linger then improved in the second. Setting a track-record they improved to sixth place and thus defended their top spot on the overall World Cup rankings with just 10 points ahead of Wendl-Arlt, who earned the European silver medal. Toni Eggert-Sascha Benecken of Germany claimed bronze.
Andreas Linger
(AUT / 2006 and 2010 Olympic Champion; World Champion in 2003, 2011 and 2012; 2010 European Champion)
“When Peter and Georg were in the track I just took two breaths because it was ever so nail-biting and thrilling. The first run was downright bad. It wasn’t our day today, but thankfully it had a happy ending. Now all the doubles titles are in Austria.”
Wolfgang Linger “We owe them not only a tiny but a very very big ‘thank you’. We need to find something very good to thank Peter and Georg for their ‘help’.“
Tobias Wendl (GER / 2008 World runner-up and defending champions in the Viessmann Luge World Cup)
“After the Worlds we had nothing to lose and this is why we wanted to attack. We didn’t start calculating between the two runs. We were sure that Linger-Linger would just perform magic with a perfect second run to improve their ranking.”
Peter Penz (AUT / 2012 European Champion, 2012 World bronze medalist)
“This is simply awesome. We started into the season with a victory and we ended the season with a victory. This is our first title. It’s just great. Additionally, we even ‘helped’ Linger-Linger claiming the overall World Cup victory. And this is what makes this success even sweeter.”
