120 athletes from 23 nations set to compete at the 48th FIL World Championships

Winterberg (RWH) Winterberg is geared up for a winter fairytale. At least 23 nations will gather in the Hochsauerland when 120 athletes compete at the 48th World Championships of the International Luge Federation (FIL). According to a press release, the third World Luge Championships to be staged in Winterberg following the 1989 and 1991 events will be marked by a spectacular opening ceremony in the market place in Winterberg.

Seven sets of medals will be award by the World Federation between 24 and 27 January 2019. In addition to the four decisions in the Olympic disciplines (men’s, women’s, doubles and team relay), the three sprint competitions (men’s, women’s, doubles) were added in 2016. The FIL will also award the U23 World Championship Title via a Race-in-Race mode for the seventh time.

There will be plenty of prestigious names in action in Winterberg. With four men and women and three doubles per national association, the FIL World Championships generally has a stronger line-up than Olympic events. The guidelines of the International Olympic Committee state that a maximum of three men and women and only two doubles pairings can compete.

The defending champions are Austria’s Wolfgang Kindl, Tatjana Hüfner (GER), who won her fifth World Championship title in 2017 to claim the record for most titles, and the German duo Toni Eggert/Sascha Benecken. The black, red and gold quartet featuring Hüfner, Eggert-Benecken and Johannes Ludwig won the world title in the team relay. Sprint World Champions two years ago in Innsbruck were the now retired American Erin Hamlin, Wolfgang Kindl, and Tobias Wendl /Tobias Arlt in doubles (GER).