Denisev/Antonov crowned Russia’s first European Champions in doubles

Lillehammer (RWH) Aleksandr Denisev and Vladislav Antonov have become the first Russians to win a European Championship gold medal in doubles. The duo finished the 51st European Championships of the International Luge Federation (FIL) in Lillehammer ahead of the Austrian pairing of Thomas Steu/Lorenz Koller in second. Third place at the European Championships, which doubled as the Viessmann World Cup, went to another Russian pairing – Vladislav Yuzhakov/Iurii Prokhorov. Jewgeni Beloussow/Alexander Beljakow won European gold back in 1986 but they were competing for the USSR.

This is the first time that Germany has missed out on a European Championship medal since since 2014 when the country’s Olympic lugers did not take part in the event. Aside from that, you have to cast your mind back as far as 1971 to find a European Championship result without a German duo on the podium. The Olympic Champions Tobias Wendl/Tobias Arlt and the World Champions Toni Eggert/Sascha Benecken finished seventh and eighth respectively in Lillehammer.

Eggert/Benecken retain their lead in the overall standings of the Viessmann World Cup with 597 points ahead of  Wendl/Arlt (517) and Steu/Koller (486).

Quotes

Aleksandr Denisev (RUS / Olympic fifth in 2014 and Olympic silver medallist in the 2015 team relay)

“We know that we have made history here today by finally winning Championship gold for Russia. But it pales by comparison with the World Championships coming up on our home track. That it a completely different race altogether.”

Lorenz Koller (AUT / World Championship bronze in 2019, World Championship sprint bronze in 2019, World Championship team relay bronze in 2019)

“We have finished fourth at two European Championships, so getting a silver here is a real success. But we threw away the win because we made so many mistakes. But the two Russian duos have been sensational. The track is really tricky at the moment because there is so much ice, which makes corner entry very awkward. It is really hard to work out what line to take.”