Olang (ck) - „You have organized a wonderful event and you have a great sport with a promising future, you are all stuntmen“, said IOC Sport Director Christophe Dubi when he left the European Championships in Olang/Valdaora, Italy. And he knows what he is talking about as he has tried himself. In proper racing equipment and with a sled prepared for the competition he and his deputy Jean-Laurent Bourquin took the challenge and went down the finish curve of the icy track. FIL President Josef Fendt jumped in as a trainer and gave them the necessary instructions.
But the physical experience of natural track luge was just a side effect of the IOC visit, even though Dubi declared it as a “personal highlight”. The main reason why they followed president Fendt´s invitation to come to Olang was to have a closer look at the sport itself and give an estimation about its chances to one day become an Olympic discipline.
Basically Christophe Dubi found praising words for the sport: “It is fast, requires piloting skills, it has a strong physical element and a high perception of the risk involved.” He was also impressed by the good spirit among the athletes and of course by its natural settings. “It is a very big plus at this moment in time to have an activity which is technically highly developed and yet bears ecological awareness.”
But he also expressed that it will be the duty of the International Luge Federation to convince the IOC how natural track luge will add value to the Olympic program. It also has to be taken into consideration that adding a new discipline has to leave enough time for all the participating nations to develop a community in their countries with athletes experienced enough to compete for medals. A time frame of seven years seems appropriate.
As a roadmap to get there, Jean-Laurent Bourquin suggests to develop a long term concept: “There has to be a clear picture of where the sport wants to be in 2018. Along the way there have to be markers to check if the chosen path is followed within the planned time frame. To develop such a plan it needs a group of people to define strategies and also to control the progress.” Dubi and Bourquin also expressed very clearly where progress is needed. The Asian countries have to be included, with participating athletes as well as with events held there. The number of nations has to be increased to a number between 20 and 30 and the overall appearance will have to be a bit more professional with video screens to follow the race and attractions to bring more spectators at the track.
The message has been clear: there is a lot of work to do, but the sport is full of opportunities and a great asset to work with.

Chris Karl
FIL Media Service