A seminal week for the FIL

Berchtesgaden (RWH) The International Luge Federation (FIL) has a few seminal weeks ahead of it. At the 67th Congress in Ljubljana (SLO), the global sports association will elect the first ever Vice President for Marketing in its 62-year history. The role was created last year at the FIL’s Congress in Bratislava. The only candidate in contention at the event in Slovenia’s capital city is Germany’s Thomas Schwab. Schwab – a doubles athlete who raced with Wolfgang Staudinger and won Olympic bronze and gold at the European Championships in 1988 and bronze at the 1987 World Championships – is currently Chairman of the German Bobsleigh, Luge and Skeleton Federation (BSD).

The event in Ljubljana will also see the federation name the hosts of not one but two FIL World Championships for the artificial track disciplines. Oberhof is the only candidate to apply to host the 2023 World Championships. The Congress will also have to re-award the honor of hosting the 50th World Championships in 2021 – originally given to Calgary in Canada. The track’s operator WinSport is unable to guarantee that it will be ready to host the 50th FIL World Championships in Calgary due to delays in its planned conversion and renovation measures. The Canadian association CLAS has suggested Whistler as a replacement. The 2010 Olympic track is the only candidate.

Directly after the FIL Congress, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will decide on the hosts of the 2026 Winter Games. The decision will be made in Lausanne on June 24, with the committee choosing between the Swedish capital Stockholm and Milan/Cortina d’Ampezzo in Italy.