Altenberg (pps) Four-time World junior champion Natalie Geisenberger of Germany will celebrate her World Cup debut at the 7th Viessmann Luge World Cup event to be carried out in Altenberg, Saxony, on January 20-21, 2007. The 18-year-old will replace two-time Olympic champion Sylke Otto who retired due to her pregnancy.
In addition, Geisenberger seems to be a likely candidate for a World Championship ticket. “Geisenberger already clocked a faster time than Corinna Martin during training in Igls”, German head coach Thomas Schwab explained the preselection. 21-year-old Martini claimed an excellent third place at her debut in the Viessmann Luge World Cup event in Oberhof.
Natalie Geisenberger, who will celebrate her 19th birthday just one day after the World Championship final (February 4, 2007), has so far collected four gold and one silver medal at World Junior Championships. Additionally, she won the overall rankings in the World Junior Cup in the past three years.
In 1999, Germany’s Sonja Wiedemann claimed the World Championship title in Koenigssee without having competed in a single World Cup event. At that time, the reigning World champion (Susi Erdmann, 1997) was automatically eligible for this event and this is why a total of five German women’s sliders participated in the 1999 World Championships.