The Austrian Thomas Kammerlander won the FIL Luge World Cup on Natural Track in Deutschnofen (ITA) in men's singles on Sunday and claims a historic victory: For the first time an Austrian won on the "Pflösriep"-track, the home track of the "Azzurri".

Thomas Kammerlander celebrating his win in Deutschnofen

"Actually, now  I should end my career, there has never been a win in Deutschnofen for Austria and I am of course very proud that I have now succeeded," said the overall World Cup winner from the Ötztal after his coup. Kammerlander was third after the first run, behind World Champion Alex Gruber (ITA) and Patrick Pigneter (ITA). In the second run Kammerlander was the only competitor to have a solid run and took the lead with a total time of 1:49.49 minutes. Patrick Pigneter had difficulties especially in the upper section of the track and was 0.14 seconds behind Kammerlander. Alex Gruber was on his way to his sixth win in a row in Deutschnofen, but after the chicane he got off the track and touched the fresh snow, causing the World Champion to lose a lot of speed for the long finish curve. In the end, Gruber was only third behind his team-mate Pigneter, who was on the podium in all five races this season.

Anniversary for Patrick Pigneter

Patrick Pigneter finishing second on Sunday was podium number 150 for the Italian in the FIL Luge World on Natural Track. “It's hard to believe, it's impressive, also because we don't have that many races each season. I have been on the podium in almost every race since I was 17, ”said the athlete.

Team competition goes to Italy

In the team competition the hosts are on top: Evelin Lanthaler and Patrick Pigneter won in 1:54.18 minutes ahead of Russia (+0.61) with Ekaterina Lavrenteva and Grigory Bukin, Austria (+0.71) with Tina Unterberger and Thomas Kammerlander is following in third position.

(from left) Bukin/Lavrenteva (RUS), Pigneter/Lanthaler (ITA), Unterberger/Kammerlander (AUT)

According to the program, the FIL Luge World Cup on Natural Track is scheduled from February 7th to 9th in Zelezniki (SLO). On Wednesday the FIL will decide whether or not the races in Slovenia have to be moved to another location due to the unfavorable weather conditions.