Whistler (pps) The 44th Luge Championships of the International Luge Federation (FIL) in Whistler, Canada, will kick off with a colorful Opening Ceremony on January 30, 2013. The parade of all 22 nations will begin at the Olympic Plaza (18:45 hrs/local time) and then wind its way through Whistler, ending at Village Square with the official Opening Ceremony. Culmination of the opening night will be a live concert of the band “The Boom Booms”. Three years after the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver, 22 nations (AUT, BUL, CAN, CRO, CZE, GBR, GER, HUN, ITA, JPN, KOR, LAT, NOR, POL, ROU, RUS, SLO, SUI, SVK, TGA, UKR, USA) will compete at the World Championships. A total of 41 lugers have entered the men’s singles event, 27 athletes will start in the women’s singles and 23 teams will compete in the doubles. Twelve months prior to the première of the Team Relay event at the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia, 12 nations will be fighting for a medal. Defending Champions of the 43rd FIL Luge World Championships in Altenberg (GER) are Felix Loch, Tatjana Huefner (both of Germany), Austria’s team of brothers Andreas and Wolfgang Linger as well as the German Team Relay quartet in the line-up with Loch, Huefner and Toni Eggert-Sascha Benecken.