From Altenberg, GER
(Jan. 7, 2020) – Hans Peter Hannhighofer won his third straight European Cup two-man gold medal, setting the fast time in both heats on his way to gold.
The German pilot, who also won bronze earlier this year in IBSF World Cup action, used two strong pushes by Christian Röder off the top to set the fast start in both heats. He was also unmatched at the bottom in both heats on his way to a .85 second victory over teammate Jonas Jannusch.
The win for Hannighofer was the third of the season for him. He sits third overall in the European Cup standings after missing two EC races to race in the IBSF World Cup, where he won bronze in Igls.
Jannusch moved up from third to second in the second heat, edging out Canadian Christopher Spring.
Spring’s bronze comes in his first start since World Championships in 2019 on a track where he had crashed nine years ago, placing he and his team in the hospital. His second run was the second quickest of the heat of the race, leaving him .08 out of silver.
Germany’s Maximlian Illmann finished fourth, ahead of Maxim Andrianov in fifth. Andrianov edged out Markus Treichl for the position by .01, leaving the Austrian in sixth.
Australia’s Evan Ohanlon finished 16th, one spot ahead of Liechtensteiner Martin Kranz in 17th.
Richard Oelsner, who was back from a pre-season injury, finished the first heat in second place but did not start the second run.
Results:
| Pos | Names | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
| 1 | Hannighofer / Röder | GER | 10 | 5.30 | 5.30 | 55.82 | 55.88 | 1:51.70 |
| 2 | Jannusch / Ebert | GER | 9 | 5.44 | 5.46 | 56.15 | 56.40 | 1:52.55 |
| 3 | Spring / Mlakar | CAN | 18 | 5.45 | 5.46 | 56.43 | 56.20 | 1:52.63 |
| 4 | Illmann / Dahms | GER | 12 | 5.41 | 5.38 | 56.28 | 56.43 | 1:52.71 |
| 5 | Adrianov / Zaytsev | RUS | 6 | 5.47 | 5.45 | 56.48 | 56.35 | 1:52.83 |
| 6 | Treichl / Eckschlager | AUT | 17 | 5.50 | 5.44 | 56.46 | 56.38 | 1:52.84 |
| 7 | Kuonen / Dörig | SUI | 7 | 5.38 | 5.38 | 56.58 | 56.36 | 1:53.04 |
| 8 | Kaufmanis / Kleinbergs | LAT | 11 | 5.33 | 5.30 | 56.67 | 56.50 | 1:53.17 |
| 9 | Follador / Obrist | SUI | 24 | 5.47 | 5.50 | 56.61 | 56.65 | 1:53.26 |
| 10 | Moulinier / Juillard | SUI | 8 | 5.45 | 5.47 | 56.73 | 57.06 | 1:53.79 |
| 11 | Dobes / Dobes | CZE | 13 | 5.51 | 5.49 | 57.04 | 57.22 | 1:54.26 |
| 12 | Kuzmenko / Lylov | RUS | 4 | 5.41 | 5.42 | 57.01 | 57.47 | 1:54.48 |
| 13 | Bredikhin / Zharovtsev | RUS | 5 | 5.44 | 5.42 | 57.19 | 57.33 | 1:54.52 |
| 14 | Geiger / Mandlbauer | AUT | 2 | 5.60 | 5.59 | 57.23 | 57.34 | 1:54.57 |
| 15 | Popov / Zhestiankin | RUS | 1 | 5.63 | 5.67 | 57.25 | 57.38 | 1:54.63 |
| 16 | Ohanlon / Newbury | AUS | 15 | 5.78 | 5.79 | 58.28 | 58.79 | 1:57.07 |
| 17 | Kranz / Ostler | LIE | 3 | 5.74 | 5.85 | 59.41 | 57.70 | 1:57.11 |
| DNS | Oelsner / Jagusch | GER | 16 | 5.36 | 55.96 | DNS |
