With the medal decisions in the men's singles and in the team competition, the 29th FIL Luge European Championships on natural track in Laas/Lasa (ITA) came to an end on Sunday. Alex Gruber (ITA) was crowned European Champion for the first time, and victory in the team competition also went to the host nation.
After a frosty night with temperatures of -11 degrees celsius, the "Gafair-track" on the edge of the Stelvio National Park presented itself in perfect condition. In the first run, Alex Gruber laid the foundation for success in 1:01.69 minutes. With a new track record, he kept his pursuers Michael Scheikl (AUT) and Florian Clara (ITA) at a distance. In the decisive run, Scheikl showed a great performance, in the end the defending champion had to admit defeat by 0.07 seconds. With a total time of 2:03.66 minutes, Gruber became European champion in singles for the first time after two world championship titles (2017/2019), his teammate Patrick Pigneter (ITA) took bronze (+0.82 seconds), while Florian Clara (+0.93 seconds) slipped to fourth place.
Alex Gruber (ITA) on the way for gold
“The cold temperatures suit me, my material is simply great in such conditions. In the end it was close and I probably had luck on my side”, Gruber explained at the finishline. “I like this track and the fact that I was able to improve again in the second run makes me positive. I'm happy about silver, it was a great day," told Scheikl. Pigneter also looked happily after his eighth individual medal at European Championships: “I'm not that happy with the first run, so I wanted to do better in the final run. I'm happy that I made it and now I hold the medal in my hands."
(from left) Michael Scheikl (AUT), Alex Gruber (ITA) and Patrick Pigneter (ITA)
In the team competition, defending champion Italy with Evelin Lanthaler/Alex Gruber beat Austria (Tina Unterberger/Michael Scheikl) in 2:06.80 minutes. The bronze medal went to Russia (Ekaterina Lavrenteva/Aleksandr Egorov).
Podium team competition (from left): Tina Unterberger/Michael Scheikl (AUT), Alex Gruber/Evelin Lanthaler (ITA) and Ekaterina Lavrenteva/Aleksandr Egorov (RUS)
The organizers are looking at a positive event: “On the day of training, the mild northern foehn caused concern among the track workers. But then it got really cold and the conditions were really perfect. My thanks go to the hard-working track workers and volunteers, above all to track boss Erich Trenkwalder,” race director Günther Staffler from ASC Laas Raiffeisen praised his team.
Top three men's singles, 02/13/2022
1. Alex Gruber (ITA) 2:03.65 minutes
2. Michael Scheikl (AUT) +0.07 seconds
3. Patrick Pigneter (ITA) +0.82 seconds
Top three team competition, 02/13/2022
1. Italy (Lanthaler/Gruber) 2:06.80 minutes
2. Austria (Unterberger/Scheikl) +0.93 seconds
3. Russia (Lavrenteva/Egorov) +1.39 seconds
medal table
1. Italy 3/2/1
2. Russia 1/0/1
3. Austria 0/2/2
