Christian Hafner took part in two Junior European Championships in 1990 and 1991 . In 1990 he won the bronze medal in the single-seater and with Jürgen Pezzi the gold medal in the double-seater. In 1991 he won bronze with Pezzi in the two-seater, but fell out in the single-seater. In 1991 Hafner and Pezzi also took part in a European championship in the general class for the first time in Völs and achieved fourth place. Hafner did not start in the single-seater at world and European championships for the time being. In 1992 Hafner / Pezzi achieved second place in the European Cup in Olang and in 1993 they won the silver medal at the European Championships in Stein an der Enns behind Almir Betemps and Corrado Herin . In 1994 the first start at a world championship followed in Gsies , where they also won the silver medal, this time behind Manfred Gräber and Günther Steinhauser .
From the 1994/1995 season , Christian Hafner and Jürgen Pezzi were also successful in the World Cup . They achieved their first podium places in February 1995 in Kreuth (third place) and Stein an der Enns (second place), with which they reached third place in the overall two-seater World Cup this winter. Hafner / Pezzi also came third at the 1995 European Championships in Kandalakscha . Here Christian Hafner also started in the single-seater and achieved sixth place. In the following winter Hafner / Pezzi initially did not achieve a podium place in the World Cup and also at the 1996 World Championships in Oberperfuss they remained fifth behind the medal ranks. In the penultimate World Cup race of the 1995/1996 season in Latsch they were third again on the podium and a week later they celebrated their first World Cup victory in the World Cup finals in Stange at the end of their joint careers.
Jürgen Pezzi then ended his career and from the middle of next winter Christian Hafner started in doubles with Martin Psenner , who had driven with Arthur Künig for several years and had contested the first World Cup races of the 1996/1997 season with Anton Blasbichler . Up to this point, Martin Psenner had been just as successful as Christian Hafner and together they were able to build on their earlier results. They won the silver medal behind the Austrian duo Helmut and Andi Ruetz at the 1997 European Championships in Moos in Passeier - Christian Hafner finished eighth in the single-seater - and celebrated their first joint World Cup victory at the end of the 1996/1997 season in Garmisch-Partenkirchen . As for Hafner, it was also the second World Cup victory for Psenner.
In the 1997/1998 season , in addition to a second place in Oberperfuss and a third place in Železniki, there were two more World Cup victories at Kronplatz and in Mölten , which meant that only the Ruetz brothers had to admit defeat in the overall World Cup. At the 1998 World Championships in Rautavaara , however, Hafner / Psenner only finished fifth. In the 1998/1999 season , Christian Hafner and Martin Psenner only took part in the first three of the six World Cup races, taking the podium twice and finishing sixth in the overall World Cup. They did not take part in the 1999 European Championship. Their last joint World Cup race - and the last ever for Christian Hafner - they contested at the beginning of the 1999/2000 season in Oberperfuss, where they finished third. While Martin Psenner started exclusively in single-seater races for a few years and only later took part in double-seater races, Christian Hafner ended his career after this race.
Harald Steyrer, Herbert Wurzer, Egon Theiner: 50 years of FIL 1957–2007. The history of the International Luge Federation in three volumes. Volume II, Egoth Verlag, Vienna 2007, ISBN 978-3-902480-46-0 , pp. 285-407.
Individual evidence
↑ FISI Press Office (ed.): FISI Media Guide 2006–2007 . Milan 2006, p. 187
Italy
