With an impressive performance, Evelin Lanthaler (ITA) and Patrick Pigneter (ITA) won the gold medal at the 30th European Championships in Natural Track Luge in Jaufental/Val Giovo (ITA). For Lanthaler it is the fifth European Championship title in a row, for Pigneter it is the fourth European Championship gold medal in men’s singles.
Jaufental/Val Giovo (FIL/04.02.2023) In the women's singles, Evelin Lanthaler absolutely fulfilled her role as favorite. The defending champion set best time in both runs on the 675 meter long Tonnerboden track, with a total time of 1:46.67 minutes she fixed her fifth European title in a row in a superior manner.
Fifth title for Evelin Lanthaler (ITA)
Lanthaler is undefeated since the European Championships 2016 on her home track in Passeier/Val Passiria. In the all-time best list, she is now tied on top with Ekaterina Lavrenteva (RUS). Silver medal for Riccarda Ruetz (AUT/+2.36 seconds), bronze for Jenny Castiglioni (ITA/+2.57). For Ruetz and Castiglioni it was the first European Championship in the general class.
Podium women's singles (from left): Riccarda Ruetz (AUT), Evelin Lanthaler (ITA) and Jenny Castiglioni (ITA)
“Statistics like that are always nice, but what’s more important to me is that the performance was good. I showed two very good runs,” Lanthaler analyzed in the winner’s interview.
“It was a tough race, I'm very happy with my first run, I'm not happy with the second run. In the end it was a close battle for silver,” said Ruetz.
“I'm overjoyed, I didn't expect a medal after finishing sixth in the first run. I had nothing to lose in the second run, that certainly helped me,” explained Castiglioni.
European Champion 2024: Patrick Pigneter (ITA)
The men's singles race was hard to beat in terms of excitement; after the first run, only 0.15 seconds separated the leader Patrick Pigneter and Fabian Brunner (ITA) in third place. In the second run, Brunner took the lead on his favorite track, Michael Scheikl (AUT) fought head-to-head with Brunner, and at the finish the Styrian had a minimal lead of 0.01 seconds. Pigneter lost a lot of time in the upper part of the track and was temporarely in third place. With a brilliant finish and a total time of 1:46.42 minutes, the record winner grabbed his fourth European Championship title in the single-seater with a lead of 0.17 seconds - exactly 10 years after his last European Championship title in Umhausen.
Podium men's singles (from left): Michael Scheikl (AUT), Patrick Pigneter (ITA) and Fabian Brunner (ITA)
“I always need a few turns to get up to speed. So I don't have enough meters on this relatively short track. I’m really relieved that I was able to end the 10-year dry spell,” said Pigneter happily.
“It wasn't possible for me to get more than silver today, I was kind of stuck recently, but the hard work is paying off,” said Vice European Champion Scheikl.
“It doesn’t bother me that I missed the silver medal by a hundredth of a second – that’s the way sport is. I’m actually happy about the bronze medal,” explained Brunner.
The 30th European Championships in natural track luge in Jaufental/Val Giovo came to an end with the team competition. Defending champion Italy (Lanthaler/Pigneter) won gold, ahead of Austria (Ruetz/Scheikl) and Germany (Lisa Walch/Bine Mekina).
Podium team competition (from left): Austria (Scheikl/Ruetz), Italy (Pigneter/Lanthaler) and Germany (Mekina/Walch)
“We had first-class sporting competitions. In the doubles, Austria won a European Championship gold medal for the first time in 22 years, hosts Italy dominated and Germany also took home a medal. Organizationally, Jaufental showed itself at its best,” says FIL sports director Andreas Castiglioni with satisfaction.
Top 6 women’s singles
1. Evelin Lanthaler (ITA), 1:46.67 minutes
2. Riccarda Ruetz (AUT), +2.36 seconds
3. Jenny Castiglioni (ITA), 2.57
4. Nadine Staffler (ITA), +2.90
5. Tina Unterberger (AUT), +2.92
6. Hannah Nagele (AUT), +3.36
Top 6 men’s singles
1. Patrick Pigneter (ITA), 1.46.42 minutes
2. Michael Scheikl (AUT), +0.17 seconds
3. Fabian Brunner (ITA), +0.18
4. Daniel Gruber (ITA), +1.07
5. Florian Clara (ITA), +1.23
6. Miguel Brugger (AUT), +1.37
Medal table 30th European Championships Natural Track Luge
1. Italy 3/1/3
2. Austria 1/3/0
3. Germany 0/0/1
