Huettau (ck) Once again the European Championships might be a competition mainly between Austria and Italia. Only twice in the long history a gold medallist came from a county other than Austria or Italy. For the first time ever the Polish double Krzysztof Niewiadomski/Oktawian Samulsi managed to break the Austrian-Italian regency. They won the title in Völs in Italy in 1991. The second time it happened in 1997 in Passeier (ITA) when Ljubov Panjutina from Russia became European Champion. After two days of training runs it seems that only the men´s event is still under Austrian-Italian control. The local heros Gerald and Roland Kallan finished within the top four in all three runs, another strong contender will be five-times World Champion Gerhard Pilz (AUT) who came to Hüttau as reigning European Champion and finished the last training as the fastest with the fabulous time of 1:02,91. In the women´s event it seems like nothing can keep Ekatharina Lavrentjeva from winning. She has been fastest in all training runs and has won the last three World Cup races. Sandra Lanthaler (ITA), who became World Junior Champion last week in Kindberg, is also the reigning European Champion. She had come to Kindberg as the old Champion and on her birthday, February 1st, she made herself a great gift and became also the new Champion. Now it is to see whether she can do the same in Hüttau. So far she had to settle for average ranks in the training (13,11,18).
The most contenders for the title can be found in the double´s event. Poland, Russia, Italy and Austria are good for the victory. In last year´s World Cup race in Hüttau the Polish double Andrzej Laszczak/Damian Waniczek made the race. They have also been first in both training runs, even though they put in the brakes a couple of meters before the finish line.
So, with the strong Polish couple, the Austrian men and a seemingly unbeatable Ekatharina Lavrentjeva the titles could go to three different nations for the first time ever. What will the competitors have to expect? If the conditions stay the same as during the training days, there will be sunshine, blue skies, a track in excellent condition. The course starts at an altitude of 1159 meters above sea level and after a length of 893 meters it ends at 1038 altitude. The average descent is 13,5%.

The official competition will be started tomorrow, Friday, at 9am in the morning with the double seater´s event. Women will have two runs tomorrow, men one.