Record number of 29 nations to compete in Olympic trial run in PyeongChang

PyeongChang (RWH) A record number of 29 nations have registered to compete in the 8th Viessmann World Cup on the new Olympic track in PyeongChang (KOR). Almost exactly one year ahead of the XXIII Olympic Winter Games  (February 9-25, 2018) in the Alpensia Sliding Centre, teams from China, which will also host the Olympics in 2022, Portugal, recently confirmed as a provisional FIL member, and Turkey are all set to compete for the first time.

 This exceeds the previous maximum of 27 nations at the Viessmann World Cup in Innsbruck during the 2013/2014 winter season. That same winter, 26 nations took part in the Olympic test in the Sanki Sliding Centre ahead of the Sochi games. The 30 national associations have signed up a total of 156 athletes (57 men, 2 additional starters, 47 women, 26 doubles and a maximum of 15 relay teams).

 Although much is being made of the trial run for the first Winter Olympics in Korea, the lugers will still be competing for the Joska crystal trophies for the overall winners of the Viessmann World Cup. Only the doubles competition has been virtually decided in favor of the World Champions Toni Eggert/Sascha Benecken (GER). Aside from that, the penultimate races of the season in the women’s, men’s, and Viessmann Team Relay World Cup presented by BMW promise plenty of excitement.

 In the women’s event, Natalie Geisenberger (GER) has a 77-point advantage over World Champion Tatjana Hüfner (GER) and could equal the five overall victories achieved by the two record-holders Hüfner and Silke Kraushaar-Pielach (GER).

 Vice World Champion Roman Repilov from Russia currently leads the men’s classification with 732 points. Olympic Champion Felix Loch must overcome a deficit of 77 points if he wants to avoid enduring his first season without a title since the winter of  2007/2008. Former World Champion Semen Pavlichenko from Russia currently lies third, 86 points behind.

 The overall winner of the Viessmann Team Relay World Cup presented by BMW is also undecided. The German contingent (331) leads by a comfortable margin of 61 points, but behind them Canada, Russia (both 270 points), the USA (261), Latvia (250), and Austria (240) are all involved in a tight head-to-head contest.

The season finale will take place on the artificial ice track in Altenberg, Saxony, on February 25-26, 2017.