Sigulda (pps) Thanks to her silver medal at the European Junior Championships in Sigulda, Latvia, Viktoria Demchenko has her hopes set again on a ticket to the Olympic Winter Games in her home country Russia. Four weeks prior to the Opening Ceremony on February 7, 2014 in Sochi, the daughter of Albert Demchenko, runner-up at the 2006 Games in Turin, was only defeated by Germany’s Angelique Fleischer. Never before at Olympic Winter Games, a father and daughter competed together.

Demchenko and the Russian squad claimed the bronze medal in the Team Relay event at the conclusion of the European Junior Championships. Germany’s team with Angelique Fleischer, Toni Graefe and the doubles team of Tim Brendel-Florian Funk earned the gold medal while host Latvia claimed the silver.

Winners in the doubles event were Brendel-Funke, ahead of the two Austrian teams of Thomas Steu-Lorenz Koller and David Trojer-Philip Knoll. The title in the men’s singles event went to Armin Frauscher (Austria). Russia’s Alexandr Stepichev claimed the silver medal while Riks Kristens Rozitis of Latvia earned the bronze.