The coming weekend the small village Moos in the Passeier valley will host the 17th FIL World Championships in Natural Track Luge. For the fourth time in the history of FIL Championships a team event will be held. FIL president Josef Fendt will be in Moos/Passeier to officially open the Championships and watch the races.
No other former WCH gold medallist than title defender Ekatharina Lavrentjeva (RUS) will be competing in the women´s event. Renate Gietl (ITA) and Julia Vetlova (RUS) have won silver medals though, Melanie Batkowski (AUT) has won a bronze medal so far. But the young Austrian is a two times World Champion in the team event. Young local hero Evelin Lanthaler just proved last weekend when she won the European Junior title that she is in top shape. She will definitely be a medal contender on her home track.
In the men´s event two former and one reigning World Champion will compete. Anton Blasbichler (ITA) won the title in 2001 and 2005, Robert Batkowski won the gold medal in 2003 and Gernot Schwab comes as the current Champion to Passeier. World Cup leader Patrick Pigneter (ITA) could win the bronze medal in 2005 as well as 2007, his team-mate Andreas Castiglioni was runner up in 2005 and certainly will want another medal.
Should Pawel Porschnev/Ivan Lazarev (RUS) manage to win the title a third consecutive time, it would be a win for the history books: never before has a double seater become World Champion three times. Andreas Schopf (AUT) is a two-time World Champion as well, but he is no longer racing with his cousin Wolfgang. His current partner is his younger brother Christian.
However, nobody will be able to break Gerhard Pilz´s record: he has been World Champion five times and has won nine individual medals in World Championships, ten with his silver medal in the team event included.
