Altenberg (pps) The 2006 European runners-up in the double-seater, Germany’s Sebastian Schmidt-André Forker, have retired from their careers. They failed to qualify for the 2007 World Championships in Igls and thereby also failed to meet the requirements of their employers, the German Federal Police, for the second time.

Olympic silver medallists André Florschuetz-Torsten Wustlich, who slid to a seventh place at the World Championships, will not compete in Sigulda. They already missed the Viessmann Luge World Cup event in Winterberg. Instead, the 2001 and 2005 World Champions intend to put their new material to the test in Oberhof. In the post-Olympic season, Florschuetz-Wustlich achieved only one podium finish when they slid to a third place at the Viessmann Luge World Cup event in Nagano.