BERLIN, March 1 -- Jacqueline Lolling and Alexander Gassner of Germany have won gold at the premiere of the skeleton mixed team event, which made its debut appearance at the IBSF World Championships in Altenberg, Germany on Sunday.
With their two run times added together, the overall World Cup winner Lolling and World Championship bronze medallist Alexander Gassner had a 0.01 second lead over second place, giving them the first ever title of mixed team in the World Championship history.
"That was a really cool event - it was so much fun. Mainly because we got to compete as a team. Alex and I are in the same training group and we really spurred each other again. The fact that it all came down to one hundredth of a second is cool and I'd love to hopefully get the chance to do it more often," said Lolling.
The surprise silver medallists were Team Canada, made up of Jane Channell and Dave Greszczyszyn. Starting fifth, the pair were out early in the race and did not have to vacate the leaders' box until Lolling/Gassner appeared as the third-to-last team to compete.
"I'll take the blame for being one hundredth of a second behind. I was too slow over the last few meters. It's great to be back on the podium, especially with Jane, I'm really pleased," said Greszczyszyn.
However, the biggest surprise in Altenberg came from Team Italy. Valentina Margaglio and Mattia Gaspari achieved two quick runs, which were enough to win them third place, 0.43 seconds behind. This marks the first medal for Italy at the skeleton World Championships.
Britain's Madelaine Smith/Matt Weston only just missed out the podium, 0.03 seconds behind in fourth.
The team made up of world champions Tina Hermann/Christopher Grotheer of Germany finished fifth.
In sixth place, Lin Huiyang/Yan Wengang of China celebrated the best World Championship result in skeleton for the hosts of the 2022 Beijing Olympics.
The mixed skeleton event is a competition between teams made up of one female athlete and one male athlete. The two team members' run times are added together to decide the ranking.
A total of 15 teams from nine countries appeared in the inaugural skeleton mixed team competition at the IBSF World Championships.