From Winterleiten, AUT
(February 17, 2024) – Fabian Brunner had the fastest run in bot heats on his way to his first career World Cup gold medal.
Brunner took the lead from the 22nd starting spot, ahead of Switzerland’s Stefan Federer and held that lead through the rest of the heat.
In the second heat, Patrick Pigneter picked off teammate Daniel Gruber to move into the medals with only teammates Florian Clara and Brunner to go.
Clara’s second run was slower than Pigneter’s second run, but was still enough to stay ahead of his teammate by .2.
With Italy already assured of a sweep of the podium, Brunner pulled off with the second quickest start of the heat. By the second split Brunner had the lead and never let up. He crossed the finish line .56 ahead of Clara, with Pigneter the only other slider within a second of Brunner.
Gruber finished fourth, with Federer the top non-Italian in fifth, and Florian Markt rounding out the top six.
USA’s Torrey Cookman finished 18th, two spots ahead of teammate Leonard Pizziola in 20th. Mason Palecek finished 21st to round out the American effort.
Pigneter’s bronze medal was enough to clinch the season title, his first in men’s singles since the 2015/2016 season. Behind Pigneter, Clara has a five point advantage over Brunner, with Gruber 14 points behind Brunner. Michael Scheikl is fifth, 17 points behind Gruber.
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
| 1 | Fabian Brunner | ITA | 22 | 4.25 | 4.25 | 63.10 | 65.12 | 2:08.22 |
| 2 | Florian Clara | ITA | 23 | 4.31 | 4.32 | 63.30 | 65.48 | 2:08.78 |
| 3 | Patrick Pigneter | ITA | 26 | 4.26 | 4.30 | 63.72 | 65.26 | 2:08.98 |
| 4 | Daniel Gruber | ITA | 24 | 4.34 | 4.37 | 63.68 | 65.89 | 2:09.57 |
| 5 | Stefan Federer | SUI | 21 | 4.24 | 4.32 | 63.99 | 65.93 | 2:09.92 |
| 6 | Florian Markt | AUT | 17 | 4.30 | 4.44 | 64.38 | 65.63 | 2:10.01 |
| 7 | Sebastian Feldhammer | AUT | 15 | 4.25 | 4.27 | 64.28 | 65.78 | 2:10.06 |
| 8 | Michael Scheikl | AUT | 25 | 4.10 | 5.15 | 64.21 | 65.95 | 2:10.16 |
| 9 | Gabriel Halcin | SVK | 14 | 4.41 | 4.47 | 64.38 | 65.82 | 2:10.20 |
| 10 | Ziga Kralj | SLO | 20 | 4.38 | 4.34 | 64.09 | 66.28 | 2:10.37 |
| 11 | Vid Kralj | SLO | 19 | 4.27 | 4.31 | 64.29 | 66.33 | 2:10.62 |
| 12 | Lukas Mark | AUT | 2 | 4.29 | 4.36 | 64.14 | 66.57 | 2:10.71 |
| 13 | Simon Dietz | GER | 13 | 4.29 | 4.30 | 64.74 | 66.54 | 2:11.28 |
| 14 | Bine Mekina | GER | 11 | 4.51 | 4.50 | 65.15 | 67.21 | 2:12.36 |
| 15 | Coskun Ercoskun | NOR | 3 | 4.43 | 4.55 | 65.49 | 66.88 | 2:12.37 |
| 16 | Peter Neupauer | SVK | 10 | 4.55 | 4.63 | 66.78 | 67.01 | 2:13.79 |
| 17 | Dominik Neupauer | SVK | 7 | 4.48 | 4.48 | 66.70 | 67.41 | 2:14.11 |
| 18 | Torrey Cookman | USA | 9 | 4.50 | 4.60 | 66.11 | 68.03 | 2:14.14 |
| 19 | Jerome Almer | SUI | 12 | 4.42 | 4.56 | 66.56 | 67.93 | 2:14.49 |
| 20 | Leonard Pizziola | USA | 4 | 4.68 | 4.63 | 67.88 | 70.06 | 2:17.94 |
| 21 | Mason Paleckek | USA | 5 | 4.68 | 4.84 | 69.21 | 70.01 | 2:19.22 |
| 22 | Shohei Tanaka | SUI | 8 | 5.04 | 5.08 | 73.51 | 74.24 | 2:27.75 |
