From Laas, ITA
(January 7, 2024) – Daniel Gruber took his first gold medal of the 2023/2024 FIL World Cup season as part of a sweep of the podium for Italy.
Gruber took the lead from teammate Fabian Brunner from the 25th starting position in the first heat. Nobody else was able to match his 1:03.93 in the first heat, with teammate Patrick Pigneter the closest, .25 back.
In the second heat Florian Clara moved to the lead and held it to move up one spot with what would be the second quickest run of the heat. From there, Brunner and Pigneter both slid down and held their spots to guarantee an Italian sweep of the podium.
Gruber was the last slider of the race, and his second run was once again the quickest of the heat as he took the first gold medal of his career, winning by .38 over Pigneter and .57 over Brunner.
Florian Clara finished fourth to round out an Italian sweep of the top four spots on home ice.
Slovenia scored its best finish in recent memory. Ziga and Vid Kralj finished fifth and sixth respectively.
The United States made its first appearance on tour this season. Torrey Cookman was the top American in 19th place. Teammates Mason Palecek, Thomas Matthews, and Leonard Pizziola finished 22nd, 24th, and 25th respectively.
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
| 1 | Daniel Gruber | ITA | 25 | 16.66 | 16.60 | 63.93 | 64.64 | 2:08.57 |
| 2 | Patrick Pigneter | ITA | 30 | 16.78 | 16.91 | 64.18 | 64.77 | 2:08.95 |
| 3 | Fabian Brunner | ITA | 9 | 16.62 | 16.87 | 64.20 | 64.94 | 2:09.14 |
| 4 | Florian Clara | ITA | 28 | 16.87 | 16.92 | 64.63 | 64.76 | 2:09.69 |
| 5 | Ziga Kralj | SLO | 23 | 16.94 | 16.99 | 64.59 | 65.07 | 2:09.66 |
| 6 | Vid Kralj | SLO | 20 | 16.87 | 16.83 | 65.36 | 65.19 | 2:10.55 |
| 7 | Michael Scheikl | AUT | 29 | 16.84 | 16.99 | 65.05 | 65.80 | 2:10.85 |
| 8 | Stefan Federer | SUI | 26 | 16.71 | 16.98 | 65.12 | 65.77 | 2:10.89 |
| 9 | Miguel Brugger | AUT | 21 | 16.91 | 16.92 | 65.81 | 65.64 | 2:11.45 |
| 10 | Leon Auer | AUT | 6 | 16.96 | 17.01 | 65.51 | 66.63 | 2:12.14 |
| 11 | Florian Markt | AUT | 24 | 17.00 | 17.08 | 65.66 | 67.19 | 2:12.85 |
| 12 | Remi D Aviau de Ternay | FRA | 16 | 17.48 | 17.24 | 67.22 | 67.41 | 2:14.63 |
| 13 | Simon Dietz | GER | 19 | 17.24 | 17.35 | 66.77 | 68.81 | 2:15.58 |
| 14 | Gabriel Halcin | SVK | 14 | 17.88 | 17.52 | 68.53 | 67.00 | 2:15.53 |
| 15 | Bine Mekina | GER | 17 | 17.78 | 17.50 | 67.98 | 67.79 | 2:15.77 |
| 16 | Marco Almer | SUI | 15 | 17.54 | 17.57 | 66.91 | 68.97 | 2:15.88 |
| 17 | Jerome Almer | SUI | 18 | 17.33 | 17.84 | 67.77 | 68.23 | 2:16.00 |
| 18 | Peter Neupauer | SVK | 13 | 17.50 | 17.80 | 67.43 | 68.87 | 2:16.30 |
| 19 | Torrey Cookman | USA | 3 | 17.59 | 17.86 | 68.06 | 68.53 | 2:16.59 |
| 20 | Dominik Neupauer | SVK | 7 | 17.28 | 17.58 | 68.61 | 68.95 | 2:17.56 |
| 21 | Coskun Ercoskun | NOR | 12 | 17.83 | 18.87 | 68.47 | 70.65 | 2:19.12 |
| 22 | Mason Palecek | USA | 5 | 18.32 | 17.91 | 71.71 | 69.40 | 2:21.11 |
| 23 | Shohei Tanaka | SUI | 10 | 18.51 | 18.58 | 71.71 | 71.01 | 2:22.72 |
| 24 | Thomas Matthews | USA | 1 | 18.86 | 19.17 | 73.87 | 73.02 | 2:26.89 |
| 25 | Leonard Pizziola | USA | 4 | 19.51 | 20.06 | 74.14 | 91.01 | 2:45.15 |
