FIL Lowers Starts for World Cup in Winterberg

From Winterberg, GER

Feb. 21, 2020 – After protests from some of the sport’s biggest names, the International Luge Federation decided on Friday to lower the starts for men’s, women’s, and doubles luge this weekend in Winterberg.

In a post on the FIL website, FIL technical director Christian Eigentler said “The security of our athletes has the highest priority for the FIL”.

Currently, the Austrian team, German doubles teams, nearly the entire American team, and World Champion Roman Repilov have all pulled out of the weekend’s competitions. In a statement, Austrian head coach Rene Friedl said “track conditions have not been good enough for a world cup race”, while the Germans said “based on the conditions of the track the health risks are too high to compete.”

While many of the heavy hitters are out for the weekend’s events, the bulk of Russia’s team will still compete, as will Julia Taubitz and most of the German men, though Felix Loch is not on the start list for the coming weekend. Americans Tucker West and Jonny Gustafson will also compete in the coming weekend’s races.