Lanthaler wins European Championships on home soil

World Champion, Overall World Cup winner and now European Champion on home soil. Evelin Lanthaler climbed to the top of natural track sport in the last year. The 24-year-old Italian won on the final day of the 26th FIL European Championships Luge on Natural Track at Passeier Valley the gold medal at the women's event. Second place went to her team- and roommate Greta Pinggera. Russian Ekaterina Lavrentyeva finished third and took the bronze medal.

Heavy snowfalls transform the track "Bergkristall" into a winter wonderland on the last day of the European Championships held at Passeier Valley. There have been two medal decisions at the women's and at the team event. The favourite for the women's title is living in the host region. 14 years ago her sister Sandra won the European Championships at Frantschach in Austria. There is a lot of pressure on the shoulders of Evelin Lanthaler. She needed all her experience and skills to beat her younger teammate Greta Pinggera. Lanthaler had only an advantage of twelve hundredths after the first of two competition runs.

The 24-Year-Old from Passeier sets also the fastest time at the final run. Evelin Lanthaler celebrates her first European Championship. It is the first gold medal for Italy at the women's event since ten years. It is a novelty for natural track, that two sisters have won this title. Greta Pinggera finished second, 37 hundredths behind Lanthaler. It is her first medal at European Championships. Third place went to five-time champion Ekaterina Lavrentyeva from Russia.

Her teammate Ludmila Astramovich finishes fourth ahead of Italian Sara Bachmann. Sixth place went to German Junior Overall World Cup winner Theresa Maurer and Austrian Tina Unterberger took seventh.

WOMEN'S RESULT (after two competition runs):
GOLD: Evelin LANTHALER (ITA) 1:54.95
SILVER: Greta PINGGERA (ITA) 1:55.32
BRONZE: Ekaterina LAVRENTYEVA (RUS) 1:55.65
4. Ludmila ASTRAMOVICH (RUS) 1:56.11
5. Sara BACHMANN (ITA) 1:56.25
6. Theresa MAURER (GER) 1:56.69