Koenigssee (pps) The Viessmann Luge World Cup takes a break for Christmas – but the world’s top athletes do not. The 14 best men, the twelve best women and the eight best doubles will meet at the track at Koenigssee for the European Open and a total prize money of Euro 30,000 on January 4 and 5 (start at 10:45 hrs CET on both days). An athlete can cash a maximum of Euro 2,500.
Apart from the lugers from overseas, all well-known athletes will participate on the the world’s first artificially refrigerated bob and luge track at Koenigssee that has been modified for the 2004 World Championships in men’s and women’s bobsleigh and skeleton. Italy’s 2002 Olympic gold medal winner in Salt Lake City, Armin Zoeggeler, Austria’s current leader in the Viessmann Luge World Cup, Markus Kleinheinz, and Russia’s victor at Oberhof, Albert Demchenko, will try to prevent Germany’s three-time Olympic champion Georg Hackl from winning on his home-track. In the women’s event the eventual winner will have to defeat the German trio with 2002 Olympic champion Sylke Otto, local heroine Barbara Niedernhuber, and 1998 Olympic gold medallist Silke Kraushaar.
In the doubles event where four different doubles won the four World Cup competitions held so far, the Olympic champions Patric Leitner-Alexander Resch will enjoy a slight home-advantage. But the Austrians with the Altenberg winners Andreas Linger- Wolfgang Linger and the former World champions Tobias Schiegl-Markus Schiegl are not to be underestimated, and neither are the Italians with Gerhard Plankensteiner-Oswald Haselrieder, the winners at Oberhof, and Christian Oberstolz-Patrick Gruber.

Redaktion: cosmos-pps Kommunikations GmbH
Wolfgang Harder
Windscheidstr. 6
D 10627 Berlin
Tel.: (+49) 173 – 60 733 52
Email: HardyWolfgang@aol.com

FIL-Office:
Rathausplatz 9
D 83471 Berchtesgaden
Tel.: (+49) 8652 - 66960
Fax: (+49) 9652 - 66969