Calgary (RWH) A week earlier he had failed in the Nations Cup and had to watch the Viessmann World Cup season opening in Igls, Austria from the sidelines. Then came the World Cup on home ground in Lake Placid, and suddenly Tucker West was a star. The 19-year-old student at Union College in New York State was first on the Mount Van Hoevenberg artificial track, making him the first U.S. athlete to win a Viessmann World Cup in 17 years.West was at the center of attention, and the front page of the „Adirondack Daily Enterprise“ proclaimed: “West is the best.” But not only West, who also has a gold medal from the luge team relay at the 2012 Youth Olympic Games, has whet our appetite for the third round in the Viessmann World Cup next Friday and Saturday (December 12-13, 2014) in Calgary, Canada. Other athletes have also been making the news before the luge competitions are held in the capital of Alberta. Austria’s Wolfgang Kindl, for example, whose second place in Lake Placid was the best result of his career to date. Or Dominik Fischnaller of Italy, who has proven his worth with three podium appearances in the three races held so far this season. And then there are Russia’s Alexandr Peretyagin and US luger Aidan Kelly, who have never done so well in a Viessmann World Cup as they did this time around, with a fifth and seventh, respectively. The women have also been returning top results. Olympic bronze medallist Erin Hamlin of the USA came second in a Viessmann World Cup for the first time in her career, and teammates Emily Sweeney and Summer Britcher followed in the wake of the 2009 World Champion to notch their own personal bests at fifth and sixth. Another personal best came from Italy’s Sandra Robatscher, who followed up her Junior World Championship silver medal with a 10th in Lake Placid. Calgary, which was home to the Olympics 26 years ago and will now host the third round of the season after the events in the Olympic venues of Innsbruck (1964 and 1976) and Lake Placid (1932 and 1980), is the last stop on the tour before the luge athletes break for Christmas. On the agenda are the women’s and men’s singles and the doubles. Also being showcased at Canada Olympic Park (COP) is the International Luge Federation’s second Sprint World Cup following its promising debut in Igls. The results of the FIL Sprint World Cup, which will be held for the third time this season in Altenberg, count towards the overall Viessmann World Cup ranking.