Berlin (pps) The German lugers can achieve a unique record at the Viessmann Luge World Cup at Lake Placid, New York, on the coming weekend. At the Olympic town of 1932 and 1980, the German team can capture their 200th World Cup victory since the inauguration of the World Cup series in the winter of 1977-78. In the counting, only the victories of the Federal Republic of Germany until 1988-89 and those of the united Germany since 1989-90 have been considered. The altogether 80 World Cup wins of the former East Germany have not been considered.

The men led by three-time Olympic and World champion Georg Hackl (32 World Cup wins) contributed 42 wins to the 199 victories so far. The doubles headed by two-time Olympic champions Stefan Krausse-Jan Behrendt (27 wins) added 70 victories, while the women achieved the lion’s share with 87 victories. The two Olympic champions Sylke Otto (32 wins) and Silke Kraushaar (23 wins) alone captured more than half of the victories.