“Honestly, I am happy for Armin Mair and Johannes Hofer, finishing fourth does not hurt that much if you have won gold the day before,” said Reinhard Beer (AUT) and proved to be a good sportsman. Beer/Kögl, leader in the current World Cup and World Champions of 1996, had been ranked second after the first run, but messed up their second run and missed the podium.

The top spot on the podium was taken by the Russians Pawel Porschnev/Ivan Lazarev, who won the first double seaters´gold ever for their country. They took the lead after the first run and with the third best time in the second run they fixed the gold medal. After having dominating the scene during training and in yesterday´s team event, the Polish double needed an excellent second run for winning a medal. After the first run they had been ranked fourth and seemed to share the destiny of two years ago in Zelezniki, when they finished fourth in the final ranking. But in their second run they made up enough time to win the bronze medal.

The surprise of the day were the Italian silver medallists Armin Mair and Johannes Hofer. Armin Mair had been World Champion already, back in Olang 2000, when he won gold together with his brother David. David Mair switched over to skeleton, so Armin Mair went for a new partner, Johannes Hofer. In their three years of racing together, they never made the podium. Often enough they finished fourth or fifth, but never had two equally good runs. “When we started racing together we said we would continue until the 2005 World Championships. In all those years our dream was a medal in our home Championships. It is unbelievable that it really worked out today, considering how often we missed the podium closely and had to settle for the fourth place”, said a smiling Armin Mair after the race. “I still cannot believe what has happened today, it is like a dream that has come true”, added Johannes Hofer.