Deutschnofen/Nova Ponente (ck) - As a part of the Opening Ceremony of the 19th FIL World Championships Gerhard Pilz (AUT) was inducted in the FIL „Hall of Fame“. The requirements for that are extraordinary success in the sport, a career end at least five years ago and a position as either a coach or an official in the luge sport. Five-times world champion Gerhard Pilz met all these requirements easily. Next to his five gold medals he won three silver medals and one bronze medal in world championships. He has been European champion twice and won another silver and a bronze medal in European championships. Twice he won the overall world cup and during his career he achieved 19 world cup wins. Gerhard Pilz is member of the FIL natural track sport commission and since 2008 he has been coach of the German national team. For the first time ever the FIL Executive Board voted a natural track athlete into the “Hall of Fame”.