ŽELEZNIKI. Second race day of the GRM Group Luge World Cup on Natural Track in Železniki (SLO): On Sunday, January 22nd, the final runs of the men and the women as well as the team competition were executed.

At the women’s event, the Italian athletes were not to beat this weekend. They dominated in the qualification as well as in the final runs. In the end, Greta Pinggera (ITA) won the race ahead of her compatriots Evelin Lanthaler and Sara Bachmann – it was her first win of the season. “You have to admit, Greta was just too good this weekend,” Lanthaler acknowledged the performance of her team mate. “I knew I had to go all in, and neither in the first nor in the second run I made any big mistakes. But this time, it just wasn’t enough,” said the current World Cup Leader Lanthaler, who was 34 hundredths behind her victorious compatriot after two runs. Pinggera was happy with her performance: “I had no great expectations before the race in Slovenia, but I wanted to attack and to win here – especially because this season wasn’t my best so far.” In Slovenia, however, Pinggera did very well from the beginning. “It was the first time for me to race on this track, it’s challenging and difficult. But the equipment was perfect, and I got used to the track quickly, even though I made a few mistakes in my runs,” said Pinggera. Her compatriot Sara Bachmann also was satisfied with the race: “I barely got through the qualification, so I never expected to rank third here,” said Bachmann, who stood on the podium for the first time this season.
Due to her triumph in Slovenia, Pinggera managed to outpace Tina Unterberger (AUT) in the overall standings of the women – she ranks second now, just behind Lanthaler, who still is in the lead.

At the men’s event, there has also been an Italian victory: Patrick Pigneter had a time of 1:54.76 minutes and won the race ahead of Thomas Kammerlander (AUT) and Juri Talikh (RUS). “I wasn’t really relaxed today, because Thomas put a lot of pressure on me,” Pigneter said after the race. “In training, I wasn’t that good, but I usually deliver my best performances in the competition runs. Sure, there are always a few things you could do better, but all in all I did two solid runs, and I’m satisfied.” Runner-up Kammerlander, who failed to extend his lead in the overall standings, was in a completely different mood after the race: “Of all the runs I did on this weekend, my final run was definitely the worst. I became acquainted with the track very quickly, but in the last run I totally messed up. There was more in it for me here,” said the Austrian, who stood on the podium in every race this season.

For Juri Talikh, in turn, it was the first time on the podium in the season 2016/2017: “I’m very happy about my third rank, everything went well for me, and I had no troubles on the track at all,” said the Russian.
In the overall standings of the men, Kammerlander still is in the lead, but Pigneter, who could shorten the gap to the Austrian after his victory in Slovenia, comes close behind: only ten points separate the two athletes. Pigneter’s compatriot Alex Gruber, who came in seventh in Slovenia, ranks third.  

The Italians were not only successful at the women’s and at the men’s event, but also at the team competition: The Italian squad with Greta Pinggera, Alex Gruber and Patrick Pigneter/Florian Clara ranked thirst, runner-up was the team from Austria with Michelle Diepold, Thomas Kammerlander and Christian Schopf/Andreas Schopf. Russia with Svetlana Zaravina, Juri Talikh and Pavel Porshnev/Ivan Lazarev ranked third.

The next stop for the athletes of the GRM Group Luge World Cup on Natural Track is Deutschnofen (ITA), where the races will be held from January 27th to 29th.  

Results:
http://www.fil-luge.org/en/multimedia/grm-group-luge-world-cup-on-natural-track-2