Berlin (pps) Due to the general limitation of the number of participants at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Torino, Italy, the International Olympic Committee, IOC, once again permits 110 lugers to compete. This maximum number includes 40 men, 30 women and 20 doubles.

Deadline for the Olympic qualification is December 31, 2005, in the standings of the Viessmann Luge World Cup, which means after the fifth World Cup event at Lake Placid, USA. There are a maximum of three men and three women plus two doubles eligible per nation. A qualification list considering these criteria will be produced on December 31. Only athletes who are among the 40 best men, 30 best women and 20 best doubles on this so-called qualification list as of December 31, 2005, have assured the FIL Olympic Qualification.

And only if a National Olympic Committee, NOC, of a nation does not avail of all qualifying places, other athletes on the „waiting list“ will have the opportunity to qualify for the Olympic Winter Games in Torino.

Further qualification criteria are that the athletes must have competed in at least five World Cup or junior World Cup races in the past two seasons and must have achieved at least five World Cup points or, as an alternative, must have finished in at least 31st place in the men’s event, 21st place in the women’s and 16th place in the doubles’ event in one of the five 2005-2006 World Cup events prior to December 31, 2005.