Lungiarü - Eleven consecutive wins and she does not know why: I do not believe that I have better equipment, maybe it is the training, but I really do not know. I just get on the sled and go”, said Ekatharina Lavrentjeva after she won in Lungiaru with a 2,19 seconds winning margin. In the league behind her two new faces – at least new in the current season – made the podium. Ranked fifth after the first run, Renate Kasslatter (ITA) had an excellent second run and finished second. “I was still excited at the finish, it was such a great run. I forgot everything, really enjoyed every moment”, she said. It was the first time after her one season baby-break that she had a podium finish.
Third became Russia´s Julia Vetlova who already had two third places back in the season of 2003/04. From then on she suffered from a knee injury which also required surgery so that only now she found back to where she had already been. However, in the meantime the 23-year-old finished university and has a degree as a sports teacher now.

The men´s event was decided in a breath-taking finish. Martin Psenner (ITA) and Gerhard Pilz (AUT) were tied on spot one after the first run and behind them were three athletes waiting for their chances with less than two tenths margin. Not among them was Patrick Pigneter (ITA) who had a crash in his first run and had lost everything by then. Not even best times in all remaining sequences including the second run could get him any further than the 34th final rank. The eventual winner was Martin Psenner: “I really wanted to seize the chance. I was tied with a five-times World Champion and it was my pleasure to beat him”, said Psenner, who has his best season in his entire career so far. “I have improved mentally, this is very important at a top level. One tiny mistake is enough and you are nowhere as we could see with Patrick today.”
The beaten five-times World Champion Gerhard Pilz was not upset at all: “I wanted to come back here where I suffered some broken ribs in a training crash last year and which in the end had cost me the whole season. So I wanted to race here again and come to peace with this track. My goal was to make a podium finish and so I am satisfied.”
Third became local hero Hannes Clara: “Partly it was a great support to have the local crowds along the track, but partly it also gave me some extra pressure”, said the 16-year-old World Cup newcomer. He, the cousin of Florian Clara who won yesterday´s double event (with Patrick Pigneter), had won some national and international races and made the Italian national team, then succeeded in the internal qualification. “Now of course I would like to compete in the World Cup more often”, he said. He could have a great future considering that he has not even started professional training and goes to school in Bolzano.

The FIL World Cup should have been continued in Hüttau (AUT) next week, but the race had to be cancelled due to weather conditions. There will be a replacement, but time and place will depend on weather.

Results Lungiarü:

Women Singles (20):
1. Ekatharina LAVRENTJEVA (RUS), 1:25,64(1), 1:25,68(1), 2:51,32
2. Renate KASSLATTER (ITA), 1:6,98(5), 1:26,53(3), 2:53,51
3. Julia VETLOVA (RUS), 1:26,84(3), 1:26,87(3), 2:53,71
4. Melanie BATKOWSKI (AUT), 1:26,89(4), 1:27,04(5), 2:53,93
5. Renate GIETL (ITA), 1:26,78(2), 1:27,27(6), 2:54,05
6. Barbara ABART (ITA), 1:27,57(6), 1:26,94(4), 2:54,51
7. Marlies WAGNER (AUT), 1:28,24(7), 1:28,03(9), 2:56,27
8. Michaela MAURER (GER), 1:28,28(8), 1:28,02 (8), 2:56,30
9. Oxana ELESINA (RUS), 1:28,71(10), 1:27,99(7), 2:56,70
10. Kinga GAWLAS (POL), 1:28,90(11), 1:28,55(10), 2:57,45
11. Tamara SCHWARZ (ITA), 2:57,50
12. Tina UNTERBERGER (AUT), 2:58,35
13. Katrin MLADEK (AUT), 2:59,11
15. Veronika NACHMANN (GER), 3:04,17

Men Singles (53):
1. Martin PSENNER (ITA), 1:24,75(1), 1:24,61(2), 2:49,36
2. Gerhard PILZ (AUT), 1:24,75(1), 1:25,25(3), 2:50,00
3. Hannes CLARA (ITA), 1:24,89(3), 1:25,27(4), 2:50,16
4. Anton BLASBICHLER (ITA), 1: 24,90(4), 1:25,27(4), 2:50,17
5. Gernot SCHWAB (AUT), 1:24,94(5), 1:25,83(7), 2:50,77
6. Mathias RAINER (ITA), 1:25,11(6), 1:25,96(10), 2:51,07
7. Robert BATKOWSKI (AUT), 1:25,38(8), 1: 25,78(6), 2:51,16
8. Thomas KAMMERLANDER (AUT), 1:25,17(7), 1:26,17(12), 2:51,34
9. Florian BREITENBERGER (ITA), 1:25,50(11), 1:25.89(9), 2:51,39
9. Dominik WAGNER (AUT), 1:25,54(12), 1:25,85(8), 2:51,39
11. Ziga PAGON (SLO), 2:51,43
12. Gerald KAMMERLANDER (AUT), 2:51,75
13. Marcus GRAUSAM (GER), 2:52,33
14. Björn KIERSPEL (GER), 2:53,00
24. Julian SCHULTZ (USA), 2:58,38
25. Kaj JOHNSON (CAN), 2:59,11
27. John GIBSON (CAN), 3:00,45
30. Corey PUSEY (CAN), 3:02,27
34. Patrick PIGNETER (ITA), 1:42,92(39), 1:24,23(1), 3:07,15

World Cup Rankings (3/6):
Women Singles:
1. Ekatharina LAVRENTJEVA (RUS) 300
2. Melanie BATKOWSKI (AUT) 215
3. Renate GIETL (ITA) 210
4. Renate KASSLATTER (ITA) 187
5. Julia VETLOVA (RUS) 166
6. Barbara ABART (ITA) 165
7. Marlies WAGNER (AUT) 143
8. Michaela MAURER (GER) 122
9. Kinga GAWLAS (POL) 111
10. Katrin MLADEK (AUT) 96

Men Singles:
1. Martin PSENNER (ITA) 255
2. Patrick PIGNETER (ITA) 207
3. Gerhard PILZ (AUT) 201
4. Gernot SCHWAB (AUT) 195
5. Florian BREITENBERGER (ITA) 139
6. Gerald KAMMERLANDER (AUT) 138
7. Robert BATKOWSKI (AUT) 133
8. Mathias RAINER (ITA) 132
9. Thomas KAMMERLANDER (AUT) 114
10. Anton BLASBICHLER (ITA) 92
11. Marcus GRAUSAM (GER) 88
12. Georg MAURER (GER) 85
24. Julien SCHULTZ (USA) 49
36. Kaj JOHNSON (CAN) 16
39. John GIBSON (CAN) 14
40. Corey PUSEY (CAN) 11

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FIL Media Service