Start into the New Year without Olympic and World Champion Huefner
Koenigssee (pps) The Viessmann Luge World Cup will head off into the New Year without defending champion Tatjana Huefner of Germany. Due to back problems the Olympic and four-time World Champion will not compete on the artificially iced track in Koenigssee on January 5-6, 2013, the fifth stop of the World Cup series. Huefner did not compete at the German national championships shortly before Christmas either. But, as she said herself, she fully intends to get back into the World Cup circuit in Oberhof (January 12-13, 2013).
Huefner, who failed to celebrate a victory in the Viessmann Luge World Cup in the pre-Olympic season, currently holds third position in the overall rankings with 260 points to her credit. But she is 110 points behind teammate Natalie Geisenberger (370) who is at the top of the rankings. Germany’s Anke Wischnewski is in second position (315 points).
It seems to be a difficult if not impossible undertaking for 29-year old Huefner to win the overall title for the sixth time. Together with Silke Kraushaar-Pielach (Germany), who claimed the overall World Cup title five times between 1999 and 2007, Huefner is record overall champion in the Viessmann Luge World Cup.
Similar to Huefner, compatriot Felix Loch did not compete in the German national championships as he suffered from a viral infection. But the 23-year old plans to start on his home track in Koenigssee and, what is more, to settle an account with teammate Andi Langenhan. European Champion Langenhan stole the show and the eventual victory from the Olympic and three-time World Champion at the Viessmann Luge World Cup event that was moved from Cesana (Italy) to Koenigssee. But for all that Loch is still at the top of the overall rankings with a total of 355 points to his credit, clearly ahead of Langenhan (300) and Russia’s Albert Demchenko (257). The Russian, at 41 years of age, ended Germany’s winning series of 12 consecutive victories in the Viessmann Luge World Cup shortly before Christmas when he took the podium’s top spot in Sigulda, Latvia.
Local heroes Tobias Wendl-Tobias Arlt (Germany) already have four World Cup victories under their belt and are thus setting the standard in the doubles events. The 2012 European silver medalists, who became - as a matter of course - national champions on December 22, 2012, are the top favorites at the upcoming World Cup stop in Koenigssee.
