Mariazell (PMA) - 20th FIL Luge World Championships on Natural Track were official opened on Thursday at the city center of Mariazell in Austria. First medal decision, which was held on the track at Sankt Sebastian was the Doubles event. Patrick Pigneter and Florian Clara of Italy are World Champions for the third time in their career. They dominated the race with a lead of almost three seconds after two competition runs. Second place and the silver medal went to Austrian Rupert Brüggler and Tobias Angerer, who had landed their first World Cup podium this season. Bronze medal went to former World Champions Pavel Porshnev and Ivan Lazarev after a bad season. It is the fifth medal for the Russian duo. First competition run of the Men‘s event was won also by Patrick Pigneter. He is leading in front of three Italian team-mates. Austrian Thomas Kammerlander (5th) and Michael Scheikl are in the hunt. Scheikl is less than a second behind Pigneter. Statements: Patrick Pigneter (ITA): „We have prepared for two years. I’m very happy winning a Gold medal. Next target is to get a good result at the Men’s event” Florian Clara (ITA): „We had two perfect runs. We were absolutely sure that nobody was able to beat us today“ Tobias Angerer (AUT): „It is unbelievable. It is a dream to win a medal in front of friends and family. The fans at the track really pushed us today.“ Rupert Brüggler (AUT): „I’m very happy and at the same time I’m feeling sad because my team-mates Christoph Regensburger and Dominik Holzknecht missed their medal by hundredths“ Pavel Porshnev (RUS): „It was not a good season for us so far. We had no feeling for the tracks. First run wasn’t good either. Second run we felt better and the run was good. This medal means a lot for us this season” Results: GOLD MEDAL: Patrick Pigneter/Florian Clara (ITA) SILVER MEDAL: Rupert Brueggler/Tobias Angerer (AUT) BRONZE MEDAL: Pavel Porshnev/Ivan Lazarev (RUS)