“I have been runner up so many times, sometimes being just one hundredth behind. I knew that one day the luck would be on my side”, said today´s winner Gernot Schwab. “This was for sure not my best performance. I tried to adjust the runnings a little bit different, but in the end I am sure I did not have the best adjustments. This track is not one of my favourite tracks, all together it was not my best day. But I am so relieved that finally I am standing at the very top of the podium.” It was a close finish after Patrick Pigneter had taken the lead with a fabulous time which finally put him on second place. “I knew Patrick´s time”, said Schwab, “and it was not easy to stay calm, but I am much more relaxed this season than I used to be.”

Another strong Austrian life-sign gave Philipp Wagner taking the third place. The 20-year-old won the bronze medal in Kindberg´s World Junior Championships two years ago and now made it into Austria´s World Cup team. “I am very happy about my result today. At the end the track had some holes and it was really not easy to race.”

An impressive performance gave Russia´s Ekatherina Lavrentjeva. With the fastest times in both runs she showed that she is without any doubt the current number one in the scene. The price for her excellent shape was that she did not go back to Russia to enjoy some lazy days around Christmas (which in Russia is celebrated on January 7th). Instead she stayed in Europe. “We went to different tracks in Italy and in Austria. I don´t mind to stay all winter in Europe, we have done that the past few years already. It takes too much time to take the bus to Russia and then come back again,” she says. There is no money to fly between Russia and central Europe, even though the Russian team has become one of the most successful ones in the World Cup. The money goes into travel expenses as well as material. “I bought a new sled at the beginning of this season and I liked it from the beginning. Now I have had the chance to do a lot of training on the new sled”. This does not sound too encouraging for the rest of the best. In today´s race these were the sisters Renate and Christa Gietl, ranked second and third. Too avoid any arguments within the family (which they don´t have anyway) they share the second spot in the World Cup with 155 points each.

Results:

Women Final Results:
1. Ekatherina LAVRENTJEVA (RUS), 1:12,34(1), 1:12,95(1), 2:25,29
2. Renate GIETL (ITA), 1:12,40(2), 1:13,10(2), 2:25,50
3. Christa GIETL (ITA), 1:13,99(4), 1:13,96(3), 2:27,95
4. Melanie BATKOWSKI (AUT), 1:13,72(3), 1:14,80(7), 2:28,52
5. Melanie SCHWARZ (ITA), 1:14,38(7), 1:14,70(5), 2:29,08
6. Imelda GRUBER (ITA), 1:14,25(6), 1:14,95(8), 2:29,20
7. Anna BRAUN (AUT), 1:14,55(8), 1:14,69(4), 2:29,24
8. Marlies WAGNER (AUT), 1:14,56(9), 1:14,75(6), 2:29,31
9. Karolina WANICZEK (POL), 1:14,05(5), 1:15,29(9), 2:29,34
10. Tina UNTERBERGER (AUT), 1:15,00(10), 1:15,89(11), 2:30,89
11. Julia VETLOVA (RUS), 1:15,36(11), 1:15,86(10), 2:31,22
12. Ziva JANC (SLO), 1:16,98(12), 1:17,75(13), 2:34,73
13. Vroni NACHMANN (GER), 1:18,40(13), 1:18,80(14), 2:37,20
14. Olga SIDAROVA (RUS), 1:19,95(15), 1:19,82(15), 2:39,77

Men Final Results (41):
1. Gernot SCHWAB (AUT), 1:11,87(1), 1:11,95(2), 2:23,82
2. Patrick PIGNETER (ITA), 1:12,34(3), 1:11,60(1), 2:23,94
3. Philipp WAGNER (AUT), 1:12,15(2), 1:12,69(6), 2:24,84
4. Anton BLASBICHLER (ITA), 1:12,77(8), 1:12,28(3), 2:25,05
5. Andreas CASTIGLIONI (ITA), 1:12,63(6), 1:12,48(5), 2:25,11
6. Gerhard PILZ (AUT), 1:12,66(7), 1:12,72(7), 2:25,38
7. Gerald KAMMERLANDER (AUT), 1:13,09(12), 1:12,45(4), 2:25,54
8. Ziga PAGON (SLO), 1:12,60(5), 1:13,01(10), 2:25,61
9. Florian BREITENBERGER (ITA), 1:12,81(9), 1:12,92(9), 2:25,73
10. Florian BATKOWSKI (AUT), 1:12,51(4), 1:13,56(15), 2:26,07
11. Robert BATKOWSKI (AUT), 1:13,01(10), 1:13,22(11), 2:26,23
12. Marcus GRAUSAM (GER), 1:13,44(16), 1:12,86(8), 2:26,30
13. Martin PSENNER (ITA), 1:13,13(13), 1:13,52(13), 2:26,65
14. Björn KIERSPEL (GER), 1:13,08(11), 1:13,63(16), 2:26,71
22. Corey PUSEY (CAN), 1:15,47(21), 1:15,68(23), 2:31,15
24. John GIBSON (CAN), 1:16,30 (25), 1:15,26(21), 2:31,56
26. Julien SCHULTZ (USA), 1:16,46(26), 1:15,87(24), 2:32,33
30. Kaj JOHNSON (CAN), 1:18,27(31), 1:17,98(39), 2:36,25
33. Greg JONES (CAN), 1:16,61(27), 1:21,31(35), 2:37,92

World Cup Standings (2/6):

Women:
1. Ekatharina LAVRENTJEVA (RUS) 200
2. Christa GIETL (ITA) 155
2. Renate GIETL (ITA) 155
4. Melanie BATKOWSKI (AUT) 130
5. Marlies WAGNER (AUT) 97
6. Karolina WANICZEK (POL) 85
7. Julia VETLOVA (RUS) 84
8. Imelda GRUBER (ITA) 78
9. Tina UNTERBERGER (AUT) 70
10. Ziva JANC (SLO) 62
11. Kinga GAWLAS (POL) 56
12. Melanie SCHWARZ (ITA) 55

Men:
1. Patrick PIGNETER (ITA) 185
2. Gernot SCHWAB (AUT) 150
3. Gerald KAMMERLANDER (AUT) 131
4. Anton BLASBICHLER (ITA) 120
5. Florian BREITENBERGER (ITA) 109
6. Martin PSENNER (ITA) 90
7. Philipp WAGNER 86
8. Robert BATKOWSKI (AUT) 73
9. Florian BATKOWSKI (AUT) 72
10. Daniel QUITTA (ITA) 71
11. Ziga PAGON (SLO) 67
12. Georg MAURER (GER) 60
12. Marcus GRAUSAM (GER) 60
29. Corey PUSEY (CAN) 19
33. John GIBSON (CAN) 17
35. Julien SCHULTZ (USA) 15
41. Kaj JOHNSON (CAN) 11
43. Greg JONES (CAN) 8

Chris Karl
FIL Media Service

Photo: Gernot Schwab (c) Bernhard Kogler