FIL European Luge Championships 2008
The 41st European Luge Championships were organized in 2008 in Cesana. The conference organized by the Fédération Internationale de Luge de Course continental championships were held on 12 and 13 January 2008. There were contests in single seaters for men and women, in the doubles, and men, and with the season. Apart from the last contest all championships were decided in two runs.
Most successful team was the Italian team that was two gold medals in singles and doubles of the men win. Germany reached with only one gold medals, the worst since the European Luge Championships 1994, where the team had no gold medal. Especially the fourth place in the team competition was regarded as disgrace. There won very surprising, the Latvian team gold. Austria won two silver medals in doubles and with the team and won bronze in the women's race, while breaking into the phalanx of German gymnasts who had until then occupied the first three places in all the races of the World Cup season.
Women
Date: January 12, 2008 At the start were a total of 22 athletes. For the second passage eliminated from the two lowest ranked gymnasts. Due to the heavy snowfall, the race started an hour late. The external conditions were difficult due to the snowfall, especially for later starters.
The favorites were Tatjana Huefner, who won the last four races of the Luge World Cup 2007/2008 before the European Championships. In addition, all other German starters, led by defending champion Silke Kraushaar- Pielach title chances were granted. All other starters had more than an outside chance that German athletes were still unbeaten in all major races for more than ten years.
After the first run Kraushaar- Pielach was ahead. Behind her followed the young German starter Geisenberger their first continental championships and the Ukrainian Natalia Yakushenko. Huefner finished only fifth, Anke Vishnevsky even only in seventh place. Good chances for a medal also had the Austrian Veronika Halder in fourth place.
Best driver of the second run was Geisenberger. Since Kraushaar- Pielach as part of a European only reached the fourth round time in their last run, Geisen Berger won something surprising her first major race. By the second best run Halder was able to push past Yakushenko whose run completely failed, it was only 19 Vishnevsky and Huefner could in each case still improve a place. At the end of missing Huefner whole nine thousandths of a second for the bronze medal.
The four German athletes were able to end all finished in the top six. Also ran very well in the World Championships for the Austrian team that won a medal not only by Halder but took one more place among the top six with Reithmayer. Behind the Germans and Austrians followed the two starters from Latvia.
Doubles Men
Date: January 12, 2008 At the start were a total of 17 double sledge.
Favorites for the title Patric Leitner and Alexander Resch were from Germany, also Christian Upper pride and Patrick Gruber from Italy. All other double from Germany, Austria and Italy - apart from Hans Peter Fischnaller and Klaus Kofler - were able to make at least hopes of a podium finish. Leitner / Resch were handicapped by a disorder of Leitner.
Upper Pride / Gruber could achieve the fastest time in the first round, followed in second place with just three hundredths of a second distance Leitner and Resch. In the third place, the Austrian Linger brothers followed before Gerhard Plankensteiner and Oswald Haselrieder. Surprises did not bring the first run. The Austrian double Schiegl / Schiegl occurred on the 16th rank lying on the second run no longer.
Also in the second round went upper Pride / Gruber best time and thus won in the addition of both runs the title. Leitner / Resch only achieved due to the disease and minor driving mistake in the second run fifth. They arrived at the end at the same time Plankensteiner / Haselrieder who drove the second fastest time in the second run, to third place. The silver medal won Linger / Linger, who reached the third fastest time in both runs.
Genuine surprises did not bring the title fights in the doubles. The first seven places went to the two-seaters, which were expected forward.
Date: January 13, 2008 At the start were a total of 28 luger. For the second passage is only the top 25 starters the first run qualified.
Favorites for the title were the two leaders of the Luge World Cup 2007/2008, Armin Zöggeler from Italy, in Cesana had a home advantage, and David Moeller of Germany. Outside chances were granted Albert Demchenko and Jan Eichhorn especially.
The first race dominated Armin Zöggeler. Surprisingly Second was the young Austrian Daniel Pfister. Möller came after several small driving errors to third place before Demchenko. January Eichhorn only came in ninth place, Andi Langenhan remained as 16 far behind the expectations. Also the 15th rank of Viktor Kneib was below expectations. The remaining results were similar to the expectations and opportunities of the athletes.
Also in the second run Zöggeler could consider achieving the fastest time and won for the second time after 2004 the European title. Defending Demchenko came through a very good second run to the silver medal. Möller won bronze on his 26th birthday, which, though now largely error-free, only had the fourth-best run time. Demchenko and Möller benefited from the less successful second run Pfister, who was only running seventh and slipped to fourth place. Nevertheless, the Austrians reached with Martin Abentung in fifth place a good team result. Also the sixth place of the young German young rider Felix Loch, who was the second best German, was a moderate success. His victory at the World Championships later was not yet clear enough. With the Swiss Stefan Höhener and the doyen Wilfried Huber ahead of Jan Eichhorn and Manuel Pfister on the other places in the top ten, the supremacy of the Alps riparian countries was underlined.
Team race
Date: January 13, 2008 At the start, a total of eight teams. The competition was first not held in Single Race, the individual results were then added to a team result, but as a relay competition. At the finish, the athletes had to trigger a mechanism that displayed the following starters in continuous time starting their release. First, the two-seater entered the race, then the women and finally the men 's singles. The parentheses after the maturities indicate the positioning within the group.
Surprisingly won the Latvian season with three second-best times in their runs. The silver medal went to Austria, which benefited mainly from the performance of his doubles Linger / Linger. The bronze went to Italy, which reached this position mainly due to the very good run time of the gold medal winner in the recliner, Armin Zöggeler. The time differences between the medalists were only minimal space between one and three there was only a difference of five hundredths of a second. The top favorites from Germany came despite an excellent performance of Geisenberger who set the fastest time in the women's class, only to fourth place, since both the double Leitner / Resch and David Moeller patzten and reached only the fifth best time. Russia finished fifth. The three remaining teams could not compete with the services of the top teams.