Berchtesgaden (FIL) At the 56th Congress of the International Luge Federation (FIL), which will be held in Calgary/Canada on June 27/28, 2008, Sepp Benz from Switzerland will be the only candidate for the election of the chairman of the Sport Commission artificial track. Sepp Benz, aged 64, was previously appointed by the FIL Executive Board as temporary successor to Karl Zenker, the longtime chairman of the Sport Commission, who died in the summer of 2007.

For many years, the retired post office clerk has been involved with the sport of luge in Switzerland and with the FIL as chairman of the FIL Youth Commission. As brakeman with driver Erich Schärer he took the gold medal in two-man bobsleigh in Lake Placid in 1980, and captured altogether four World championship titles in bobsleigh. The former track-and-field athlete greatly contributed to the development of the training cooperation between Switzerland and Germany. His hobbies include painting, hiking and philosophizing.