Sochi (RWH) A new round of luck: the deposed World Champion Felix Loch from Germany doesn’t see the 46th European Championships organized by the International Luge Federation (FIL) on the Olympic track in Sochi, Russia, as a second chance. “The European Championships can’t make up for the World Championships,” says the 2010 and 2014 Olympic Champion, who was toppled from his throne as World Champion by Semen Pavlichenko of Russia at the 45th FIL World Championships on February 15, 2015 in Sigulda, Latvia. “I’m looking forward to Sochi and the European Championships. I know how this track works,” says the 25-year-old, who won gold at the Olympics just over a year ago not only in the men’s singles, but also in the Olympic debut of the team relay event. This year, the artificial track above Krasnaya Polyana will be hosting not only the European Championships, but also the final round in the Viessmann World Cup. But Loch is already sure of the Joska Crystal Cup for his fourth overall win in the Viessmann World Cup, and travels to Russia under no pressure. The host team hopes to make victory difficult for Felix Loch, and stayed away from the Viessmann World Cup in Altenberg specifically to prepare for the European Championships on their home track. In the men’s singles, Russia’s hopes are pinned on World Champion Pavlichenko and on fourth-placed Alexandr Peretjagin. Their trump card in the women’s race is Tatiana Ivanova, who at the age of just 24 has already won two European Championship gold medals (2010 and 2012) and was runner up at two World Championships, the last being in mid-February in Sigulda, Latvia. Her main rival is a German luger by the name of Natalie Geisenberger. The 27-year-old has recently won everything there is to win: Olympic gold in 2014, World Championship gold in 2013 and 2015, and last weekend in Altenberg the overall Viessmann World Cup for the third time in succession. The ongoing German duel in the doubles promises some excitement, as the leaders in the overall rankings, Toni Eggert and Sascha Benecken, have an advantage of just 70 points on their permanent rivals Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt, who won the 2014 Olympics and two World Championships.