New impetus for the sport of luge in France
Paris (pps) On the occasion of his visit in Paris, the President of the International Luge Federation, FIL, Josef Fendt, has given new impetus to the sport of luge in France. During various meetings with high-ranking officials, the main focus of discussions were the development of the sport of luge in France, the participation of young luge athletes at the 2012 Youth Olympic Games in Innsbruck as well as the “reactivation” of the 1992 Olympic luge track in La Plagne as possible venue for FIL events.
Fendt, accompanied by FIL Executive Director Christoph Schweiger, met with Jean-Luc Rouge, Vice President of the National Olympic Committee of France, Didier Gailhaguet, President of the National Ice Sport Federation (Fédération Française des Sports de Glace), as well as Sports Coordinator Gregory Saint-Genies. Afterwards, Fendt and Schweiger paid a visit to the Cabinet chief in the French Ministry of Sports.
At the same time, the French Sport Minister Chantal Jouanno promoted the bid of Annecy to host the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Lausanne in front of members of the International Olympic Committee, IOC. The concept of Annecy includes the artificially-iced track of La Plagne as venue for bobsleigh, skeleton and luge events. La Plagne hosted its last Viessmann Luge World Cup event in the 2000-2001 season.
The candidates bidding to host the 2018 Winter Games apart from Annecy are Pyeongchang (South Korea) and Munich (Germany). A decision will be taken during the IOC Session in Durban (South Africa) on July 6.
