Kindberg (ck) It could not have been a better birthday for Sandra Lanthaler from Italy. After the first run she had still been more than one second behind her team mate Barbara Abart, but with a flawless second run and a fairly good third run, she finally managed to defend her Junior´s World Champion title on her 20th birthday. "I never thought that I would have a chance to win the gold medal. I took maximum risk in the second run and had an excellent run. In the third run I had some tiny mistakes and it was luck that in the end I was one hundredth ahead of Barbara," said the new and old Champion after the race. Three weeks ago she raced in the World Cup for the very first time and came in third. "For sure it helps mentally when you know you are in good form and you know you can compete with the world´s best lugers," she said. Even though it could be the perfect birthday for Sandra, there won´t be much time for partying: "We have got six hours to drive home, but if it should be too late for celebrating, I will party tomorrow." Next stop for Sandra Lanthaler, who started sledding nine years ago, will be in Hüttau at the European Championships, where she has got another title to defend. "My goal is a top three result," she says. But this had been her goal for the World Championships as well. A little bit disappointed was Barbara Abart (ITA) who had been leading by more than a second after the first run and was still leading before the final run. "Of course I had some speculations about winning the title, but Sandra did a great race and so she won", she said.

"I still cannot believe it. I have to experience and enjoy the feeling now," said bronze medallist Anna Braun (AUT) after her third run when she watched the score board and realized that she was still leading with only two more racers to come. Due to a crash in Friday´s training, Anna Braun was still a bit handicapped and suffering from an injury on her arm. "I am so happy that I managed to do three fairly good runs even though my arm was still hurting a bit. I had the one or the other mistake, but this is normal and hardly anyone had a perfect run."

A well known name was found on top of the podium in the men´s competition: Michael Gruber (ITA), the new World Champion is the younger brother of the former successful World Cup racers Reinhard and Martin Gruber. "And there is one more younger brother to come," he said with a smile. With three equally good runs Michael Gruber showed his mental strength and proved that he is ready for higher goals: "Now I want to establish myself in the senior class, but it is going to be a difficult task."
With a not so good third run Patrik Pigneter (ITA) buried all chances to take any influence in the decision about gold, but his time margin was big enough so that he ended up second behind Gruber. Absolutely happy was bronze medallist Philipp Wagner who managed to make up three ranks by an excellent last run in which he achieved the fastest time in the third run and the second fastest time of the day. "Seeing this time, I realize that maybe even more would have been possible. But I am really happy about my medal, especially considering that I was only sixth after the second run."

Results:

Women:
1. Sandra Lanthaler (ITA), 1:14,20 (2), 1:12,89 (1), 1:13,69 (1), 3:40,78
2. Barbara Abart (ITA), 1:13,12 (1), 1:13,82 (2), 1:13,85 (2), 3:40,79
3. Anna Braun (AUT), 1:14,86 (4), 1:14,45 (3), 1:14,34 (3), 3:43,65
4. Imelda Gruber (ITA), 1:14,64 (3), 1:15,60 (9), 1:14,41 (5), 3.44,65
5. Tamara Schwarz (ITA), 1:15,24 (6), 1:14,45 (3), 1:15,04 (8), 3:44,73
6. Tina Unterberger (AUT), 1:15,13 (5), 1:14,86 (5), 1:14,75 (6), 3:44,74
7. Kathrin Mladek (AUT), 1:17,59 (11), 1:15,00 (6), 1:14,40 (4), 3:46,99
8. Melanie Batkowski (AUT), 1:17,08 (10), 1:15,53 (8), 1:15,01 (7), 3.47,62
9. Marisa Clara (ITA), 1:18,05 (13), 1:15,51 (7), 1:15,41 (9), 3:48,97
10. Ziva Janc (SLO), 1:16,01 (8), 1:16,89 (10), 1:16,23 (10), 3:49,13
11. Magdalena Zawada (POL), 1:15,65 (7), 1:17,38 (11), 1:17,87 (11), 3:50,90
12. Mateja Kralj (SLO), 1:16,22 (9), 1:17,45 (12), 1:17,98 (13), 3:51,65


Men:
1. Andreas Gruber (ITA), 1:11,39 (1), 1:12,12 (1), 1:12,09 (2), 3:35,60
2. Patrik Pigneter (ITA),1:12,06 (2), 1:12,25 (2), 1:13,14 (5), 3:37,45
3. Philipp Wagner (AUT), 1:12,92 (5), 1:13,11 (6), 1:12,07 (1), 3:38,10
4. Michael Folie (ITA), 1:12,61 (3), 1:13,04 (5), 1:12,96 (3), 3:38,61
5. Thomas Damian (ITA), 1.12,78 (4), 1:12,30 (3), 1:13,66 (9), 3:38,74
6. Florian Batkowski (AUT), 1:13,05 (6), 1:12,84 (4), 1:13,55 (7), 3:39,44
7. Alexander Pamer (ITA), 1:13,43 (7), 1:13,55 (9), 1:13,39 (6), 3:40,37
8. Robert Stadler (AUT), 1:13,87 (9), 1:13,94 (13), 1:12,98 (4), 3:40,79
9. Dominik Wagner (AUT), 1:13,78 (8), 1:13,98 (14), 1:13,57 (8), 3:41,33
10. Stefan Gruber (ITA), 1:14,09 (11), 1:13,45 (7), 1:13,92 (12), 3:41,46
11. Luisl Wegscheider (AUT), 1:14,19 (12), 1:13,71 (10), 1:13,76 (11), 3:41,66
12. Ziga Pagon (SLO), 1:13,93 (10), 1:13,87 (12), 1:14,46 (14), 3:42,26