Park City (pps) Italy’s Olympic champion Armin Zoeggeler and Reinhold Rainer have been sharing a room on their luging travels for years. But because the four-time World champion was down with tonsillitis and high fever and had to stay in bed before the 4th Viessmann Luge World Cup in Park City, Reinhold Rainer got a single room.
While Zoeggeler achieved a respectable seventh place after several days in bed and weakened by his illness, thus successfully defending his lead in the overall standings, his room-mate finally came out of the Olympic champion’s shadow. In Park City Reinhold Rainer celebrated his first ever Viessmann Luge World Cup victory, on the track where he finished only twelfth at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games. The 30-year-old had previously been on the highest place on the podium once, at a Challenge Cup event at La Plagne, France, in December 2000.
The forester is the eighth Italian luger to win a World Cup event joining such famous names as Paul Hildgartner, Karl Brunner, Ernst Haspinger, Hansjoerg Raffl, Norbert and Wilfried Huber and of course Zoeggeler. Rainer is sure that his recent success will not affect his friendship with Armin Zoeggeler: “Nothing will happen.” Just the opposite: The figure-head of Italian luge with 24 World Cup victories was delighted about the success and celebrated together with his long-time friend.
Rainer obviously enjoyed his new role. “Many had given up on me, but my coaches have always believed in me, as I did myself”, Reinhold Rainer disclosed after his success on the 2002 Olympic track. His key for success sounds simple: “It’s all a matter of the mind. For a long time I thought that was nonsense. But somehow it’s exactly the same as in luging, where I have to focus on the next corner and avoid thinking about the difficulties further down the track.”
Reinhold Rainer does not waste a single thought about continuing his surprising success. “We Italians don’t stand a chance at the European Championships at Oberhof in Germany”, he said. “We will have just three training runs, while the German team will have their national championships at Oberhof one week prior to the Europeans. We even considered cancelling our participation in the European Championships.”
Sporting reason won regarding the European Championships, although Rainer considers his chances to be small. But he thinks his chances are better at the World Championships in Nagano, Japan. Apart from his win at Park City last weekend, his eighth place at the 1998 Olympics in Nagano was his best result. “The Nagano track suits me”, Reinhold Rainer says.