At the 22nd FIL Luge World Championships on Natural Track in Latzfons - Feldthurns (ITA) the favorites in the doubles, Patrick Pigneter/Florian Clara (ITA), caught the gold medal. Silver for Pavel Porshnev/Ivan Lazarev (RUS) and the bronze medal for the brothers Patrick Lambacher/Matthias Lambacher (ITA).

The old stars are back on top of the world: Patrick Pigneter/Florian Clara fixed the World Championship title in the doubles on Saturday. With best time in both runs, the World Cup leaders conquered their 4th world title in the doubles (2009, 2013, 2015, 2019) and dethroned the defending champions Rupert Brüggler/Tobias Angerer (AUT) who finished on the ungrateful 4th place due to a bad first run. The silver medal goes to Russia with Pavel Porshnev/Ivan Lazarev. The 2005, 2007 and 2011 World Champions ranked third after the first run. The brothers Patrick and Matthias Lambacher won the bronze medal at their first World Championship. They were on second place after the first run and missed the silver medal by 0.04 seconds.

Patrick Pigneter (ITA): "The fourth title in the doubles, that's an indescribable feeling, I'm speechless. We were the top favorites and then you have to bring the performance to the finish first. The conditions on the track were completely different due to weather conditions, but we stayed cool ".
Florian Clara (ITA): "Due to the changed conditions on the track I had a queasy feeling at the start. Both runs were ok, but not perfect. It was not an easy win, we had to fully attack and stay focused. I'm really pleased".

Ivan Lazarev (RUS): "After the first run we were 0.07 seconds behind second place, this is very little. However, the second run was not optimal, we had small mistakes. But a World Championship is an extreme competition, if you win silver in the end you have to be satisfied. I knew that we could get a medal, but in training the ice on the track was much harder, today it was soft due to the fresh snow. It was not easy to get along with it ".

Matthias Lambacher (ITA): "Super, just awesome. Patrick has found a great line ".
Patrick Lambacher (ITA): „Great, I‘m speechless. The last turn was very close, but Matthias reacted very well“.

Evelin Lanthaler reaches for gold
In women singles Evelin Lanthaler (ITA) leads after two runs with 1.89 seconds ahead of defending champion Greta Pinggera (ITA) and third place for Tina Unterberger (+2.20) from Austria. Lanthaler set the fastest time in both runs and can claim her second world title after 2015 on Sunday at 10.50.

Evelin Lanthaler (ITA): "I am fully motivated, even after the 5 wins in a row in the World Cup. I'm a very ambitious person by nature and I want to extend my lead in the decisive third run on Sunday. My goal is the gold medal and I do not want to leave anything to chance ".

Greta Pinggera (ITA): "I am satisfied with the second race. After the first run I changed my material and apparently found the right solution. On Sunday it is full attack, but still stay loose ".

Tina Unterberger (AUT): "It could stay that way. Unlike the World Cup, there are three runs at the World Championship, you can sleep on it once, but you must not think too much. "

World Champion Alex Gruber is heading for the title defense
Defending champion Alex Gruber (ITA) leads after one scoring run at the men's single. His lead over Patrick Pigneter (ITA) is just 0.19 seconds, followed by Thomas Kammerlander (AUT) in third positon (+0.56). The runs 2 and 3 are scheduled for Sunday (starting at 9.30 am).

Alex Gruber (ITA): "It was a good run, but the result is relative. On Sunday, the cards will be shuffled again. I think it will be a tight fight between Patrick Pigneter and me. Whoever is better on Sunday will become World Champion 2019 ".

The third medal decision on Sunday is the team competition, defending champion is Austria.

The program for Sunday:
9:30 pm 2nd run men
10.50 am Final Ladies
11.30 am Final Men
1 pm Team competition
2 pm award ceremony and closing ceremony