Fischnaller flies to European luge success in Lillehammer

The Italian trailed Semen Pavlichenko after the first run in Norway, with the Russian registering a new track record time of 48.761 seconds on his first attempt.

But Fischnaller turned it round on his second run, finishing with a combined time of 1:37.737 as he took the victory from Pavlichenko by 0.174s, with the 26-year-old making the most of his experience of the Norwegian track.

"I like this track in Lillehammer. I've won here three times now. It feels like a home track because we train here a lot and do most of our runs here," the Italian said.

Roman Repilov ended the competition in third with a time of 1:36.965, while Olympic champion David Gleirscher missed out on a first European Championship medal by finishing fourth.

The bronze medal for Repilov sees him retain his lead in the overall standings on 536 points, while victory for Fischnaller moves him up to second on 450.

Austrian Jonas Mueller, who finished in 11th position in Norway, still holds onto third spot overall with 419 points after seven stages.

Sportsbeat 2020