ŽELEZNIKI. Next weekend, from January 20th to 22nd, the fourth competition of the GRM Group Luge World Cup on Natural Track will be executed. This time, the athletes have to compete against each other in Železniki (SLO) – or, to be more precise, in Soriška Planina, a ski resort approximately 1.300 meters above sea level. Due to the lack of snow, it was not clear whether the World Cup races could be held in Slovenia at all this year, but now that winter has finally arrived there too, nothing stands in the way of the GRM Group Luge World Cup.
In Moscow (RUS), where the last competition of the GRM Group Luge World Cup took place, the conditions were perfect, for the World Cup races as well as for the Pursuit races. The latter were held in Russia for the first time this season and opened up an additional opportunity for the athletes to win even more points for the GRM Group Luge World Cup. Thomas Kammerlander (AUT), for instance, triumphed in both races in Moscow and scored 200 points in total. Thus, he outpaced serial winner Patrick Pigneter (ITA) and took the lead in the overall standings of the men, which allows him to wear the the World Cup Leader-shirt in Slovenia for the first time ever in his career. Kammerlander ranks first with 355 points, followed by Pigneter (330) and Pigneter’s compatriot Alex Gruber (300).
At the overall standings of the women, Evelin Lanthaler (ITA) is leading – not least because she had a perfect weekend in Moscow: just like Kammerlander, she was able to win the classic World Cup race as well as the Pursuit Race and received 200 points. With 370 points in the overall standings she outpaced the Austrian Tina Unterberger, who ranks second with 340 points. Greta Pinggera (ITA), who reached the podium twice in Moscow just like Unterberger, ranks third with 310 points.
At the doubles, the race for the World Cup is tight: although Patrick Pigneter/Florian Clara (ITA) were able to defend their leading position – they have 305 points in total – the gap between them and runner-ups Pavel Porshnev/Ivan Lazarev (RUS), who won the World Cup race in Russia, is a very small one: only five points separate the two pairings. Aleksandr Egorov and Petr Popov, another Russian double, rank third with 285 points. Because of their victory at the Pursuit Race and their second rank at the World Cup race in Moscow, they were able to shorten the gap to the pairings at the top.
Several of the athletes know the track in Slovenia, although it’s been quite a while since the last race was held there. The last World Cup race in Železniki, for instance, took place in the season of 2011/2012. Then, the Italians triumphed at the men’s event: Pigneter won the race ahead of his compatriots Hannes Clara and Rudi Resch, while Kammerlander, the current leader of the GRM Group Luge World Cup, ranked tenth. The winners of the last women’s event in Slovenia – Ekaterina Lavrentyeva (RUS), Renate Gietl (ITA) and Melanie Batkowski (AUT) – aren’t participating in this year’s World Cup races. However, Lanthaler, who ranked sixth the last time in Slovenia, and Unterbeger, who ranked seventh in the same race, do. At the 2012 doubles’ event in Slovenia, Porshnev/lazarev came in first, followed by Pigneter/Clara and Christian Schatz/Gerhard Mühlbacher (AUT).
Program
Friday, 20.1.2017:
9.00: 1. training run men
1. training run women
11.00: 2. training run men
2. training run women
13.00: 1. training run doubles
14.00: 2. training run doubles
afterwards: team captain’s meeting in the finish area
Saturday, 21.1.2017:
9.00: qualification run men
10.15: qualification run women
12.15: qualification run doubles
afterwards: award ceremony Nation’s Cup
13.30: final run doubles
flower ceremony doubles
afterwards: team captain’s meeting in the finish area
Sunday, 22.1.2017:
9.00: final run women
flower ceremony women
10.00: final run men
flower ceremony men
11.30: team competition
flower ceremony team competition
13.30: award ceremony women, men, doubles, team
