Umhausen (ck) - The final day of the GRM World Cup in Umhausen and the combined European Championships was kicked off by the team event in which Italy took the first place. “We knew that we are in good shape, but each of us had to perform up to his best. The temperatures were warmer today and we could only hope that our sled adjustments would work”, said Alex Gruber. Ekatharina Lavrentjeva from Russia’s runner up team analyzed critically: “We all made minor mistakes and none of our runs were ideal. The track is a bit softer today and I hope that I can improve my performance tonight.” Austria’s team had experimented with their equipment and was lucky to secure the bronze medal ahead of Poland. “We had to make some changes on our sled and compared to yesterday we basically made a 180 degree turn. I am happy that we managed to win the desired medal”, said Christian Schopf/Andreas Schopf. Tina Unterberger was less satisfied with her equipment: “We tried something new and it did not work, I just could not handle the sled. I would have expected the track a bit harder and my run was a fight from start to finish.” In the women’s event serial winner Ekatharina Lavrentjeva managed the one step up to the gold medal which marked her fourth consecutive European title, the fifth in her career. “This competition was my overall goal. My race was very different from my training run, it was a tight decision, Melanie really made it difficult for me”, said Lavrentjeva and showed a bit more emotions than after her usual wins. It was a tight race indeed, Melanie Schwarz (ITA) had narrowed down the margin to 15 hundredths of a second in the first run and 16 in the second run. For her it was a very special race, too: “I was not part of the team at the world cup opening in Russia and in the next races I never managed to qualify for the world cup, so I knew that my chances in the overall ranking were pretty slim, so the European Championships were my big goal”, said Schwarz. She has good memories of Umhausen as this is also where she won her first big medal, bronze in the 2011 World Championships. “I had so much fun in the race, I was really driven just by joy. I am totally satisfied and I am glad that I came so close to Ekatharina.” Overjoyed was also bronze medalist Tina Unterberger (AUT), who added an individual medal to her team medal in the morning: “After the team event my coaches took my sled away and totally redid the setup. Then Christian Schatz told me that I am not allowed to touch anything and I was really glad about that. In the finish I did not think the time was right as I was three seconds faster than in the team event”, said the Austrian. “If anybody had told me before that I would win a medal here, I would have loved at them.” With a breathtaking first run Patrick Pigneter (ITA) laid the basis for his third consecutive European title. After only one run his advantage was 1.37 seconds. “I have no idea how that happened. I do have perfect equipment and tested some more this week. I also owe a lot to my double partner Florian Clara who is the equipment geek between the two of us”, said Pigneter who finished the two race days with a clean sweep of three of three possible gold medals. “I did not even dare to hope for such a result, it was a tough and dense schedule.” Just as good as a win felt the silver medal for Thomas Kammerlander (AUT): “It was almost ridiculous how Patrick upset us in the first run”, said the local hero whose home advantage was not really an advantage to him: “We don’t get much training under these track conditions. The track only gets like that in a world cup after so many runs. I had troubles with my sled in the first run, that’s why my second place counts like a win for me.” Exhausted at the end of a long day was Alex Gruber (ITA), who had been ranked second after the first run and eventually finished third. “I could tell how I was starting to feel tired and how I lost concentration and started making mistakes. I am more than satisfied with the result. It was also a mental issue to find different setups and then be self-confident at the start. The additional run I had with the team event was definitely an advantage”, said Gruber. Kaj Johnson finished sixth which marks one of the best career results for the Canadian police officer, who serves in one of Canada’s northernmost aeas. The Nation’s Cup was an all Italian matter. In the women’s race Sara Bachmann (ITA) took the first place and Greta Pinggera (ITA) finished third. The young Austrian Maria Auer managed to squeeze in between the two Italians. In the men’s event the podium was a clean sweep for Italy. Florian Breitenberger won ahead of Florian Clara and Stefan Federer. New Zealand’s jack Leslie scored a good result and finished ninth in a field of 32 and outraced several world cup experienced athletes. Final Results Team Event GRM World Cup/European Championships (9) 1. Italy (Melanie SCHWARZ, Alex GRUBER, Patrick PIGNETER/Florian CLARA) 3:49,63 2. Russia (Ekatharina LAVRENTJEVA, Stanislav KOVSHIK, Pavel PORSHNEV/Ivan LAZAREV) 3:51,92 3. Austria (Tina UNTERBERGER, Thomas KAMMERLANDER, Christian SCHOPF/Andreas SCHOPF) 3:53,10 4. Poland (Wioletta RYS, Adam JEDRZEJKO, Andrzej LASZCZAK, Damian WANICZEK) 3:57,05 5. Germany (Michaela MAURER, Marcus GRAUSAM, Christian WICHAN/Oliver SCHILLER) 3:59,97 Final Results GRM World Cup Women/European Championships: 1. Ekatharina LAVRENTJEVA (RUS), 1:15,35(1), 1:14,96(1), 2:30,31 2. Melanie SCHWARZ (ITA), 1:15,50(2), 1:15,12(2), 2:30,62 3. Tina UNTERBERGER (AUT), 1:15,89(3), 1:15,83(3), 2:31,72 4. Evelin LANTHALER (ITA), 1:16,56(7), 1:15,87(4), 2:32,43 5. Liudmila AKSENENKO (RUS), 1:16,47(5), 1:16,65(5), 2:33,12 6. Michaela MAURER (GER), 1:16,28(4), 1:17,20(6), 2:33,48 7. Christina GÖTSCHL (AUT), 1:17,81(9), 1:18,07(8), 2:35,88 8. Michelle DIEPOLD (AUT), 1:17,37(8), 1:18,68(10), 2:36,05 GRM World Cup Ranking Women (4/7): 1. Ekatharina LAVRENTJEVA (RUS) 355 2. Tina UNTERBERGER (AUT) 295 3. Evelin LANTHALER (ITA) 239 4. Liudmila AKSENENKO (RUS) 224 5. Carmen PLANÖTSCHER (ITA) 188 6. Christina GÖTSCHL (AUT) 169 7. Petra DRAGICEVIC (SLO) 148 8. Greta PINGGERA (ITA) 144 9. Theresa MAURER (GER) 135 10. Michaela MAURER (GER) 134 Final Results GRM World Cup Men: 1. Patrick PIGNETER (ITA), 1:12,68(1), 1:13,03(1), 2:25,71 2. Thomas KAMMERLANDER (AUT), 1:14,05(3), 1:13,04(2), 2:27,09 3. Alex GRUBER (ITA), 1:13,90(2), 1:13,95(4), 2:27,85 4. Anton BLASBICHLER (ITA), 1:1:14.09(4), 1:13,84(3), 2:27,93 5. Stefan GRUBER (ITA), 1:14,60(6), 1:13,99(5), 2:28,59 6. Kaj JOHNSON (CAN), 1:15,09(10), 1:14,12(6), 2:29,21 Final Results European Championships Men: 1. Patrick PIGNETER (ITA), 1:12,68(1), 1:13,03(1), 2:25,71 2. Thomas KAMMERLANDER (AUT), 1:14,05(3), 1:13,04(2), 2:27,09 3. Alex GRUBER (ITA), 1:13,90(2), 1:13,95(4), 2:27,85 4. Anton BLASBICHLER (ITA), 1:1:14.09(4), 1:13,84(3), 2:27,93 5. Stefan GRUBER (ITA), 1:14,60(6), 1:13,99(5), 2:28,59 6. Stanislav KOVSHIK (RUS), 1:14,88(7), 1:14,36(8), 2:29,24 GRM World Cup Ranking Men (4/7): 1.Patrick PIGNETER (ITA) 360 2. Thomas KAMMERLANDER (AUT) 330 3. Michael SCHEIKL (AUT) 279 4. Alex GRUBER (ITA) 234 5. Stanislav KOVSHIK (RUS) 156 5. Aleksandr EGOROV (RUS) 156 7. Florian BREITENBERGER (ITA) 145 7. Juri TALIKH (RUS) 145 9. Gregori BUKIN (RUS) 134 10. Bernd NEURAUTER (AUT) 130