Oberhof (pps) 15 nations have entered the 39th European Luge Championships at Oberhof, Germany, 35 men, 25 women and twelve doubles. Non-European nations such as the USA, Japan, Korea and Canada may participate but cannot win medals.

The title holders at Oberhof
Oberhof (pps) The German Olympic champions Sylke Otto and Patric Leitner-Alexander Resch and retired Austrian Markus Prock won the titles at the 38th European Luge Championships at Altenberg, Germany, two yeas ago. The gold medal in the team event went to Germany II with Silke Kraushaar, Georg Hackl and Steffen Skel-Steffen Woeller, Germany I gained silver (Sylke Otto, Denis Geppert, Leitner-Resch) and Austria I (Angelika Neuner, Markus Prock, Tobias Schiegl-Markus Schiegl) bronze.

The 2002 European medal winners
Men
Gold Markus Prock (AUT)
Silver Denis Geppert (GER)
Bronze Armin Zoeggeler (ITA)

Women
Gold Sylke Otto (GER)
Silver Silke Kraushaar (GER)
Bronze Barbara Niedernhuber (GER)

Doubles
Gold Leitner/Resch (GER)
Silver Schiegl/Schiegl (AUT)
Bronze Plankensteiner/Haselrieder (ITA)

Team
Gold GER II
Silver GER I
Bronze AUT I

This season’s winners
Oberhof (pps) Germany’s Silke Kraushaar and Italy’s Olympic champion Armin Zoeggeler are the only athletes with three wins in the 2003-2004 Viessmann Luge World Cup so far. Germany’s Olympic champion Sylke Otto and Austria’s World doubles champions Andreas Linger-Wolfgang Linger achieved two wins each, while Germany’s David Moeller, Italy’s Reinhold Rainer, Germany’s Andre Florschuetz-Torsten Wustlich, Italy’s Christian Oberstolz/Patrick Gruber and the US-Americans Mark Grimmette/Brian Martin all have one victory on their record.