Berchtesgaden (pps) Even before the 37th World Champion-ships at Nagano, Japan on February 13-15 as the season‘s highlight, the International Luge Federation, FIL, can be looking back on a successful 2003-2004 season. “Our expectations have even been surpassed”, FIL President Josef Fendt drew his first conclusion.

The European Championships held at Oberhof, Germany, attracted more than 10,000 spectators at the beginning of January, and at Winterberg, Germany, approximately 7,000 visitors watched the Viessmann Luge World Cup competitions in mid-January. On the German TV market, the most important for FIL sponsors, the luge transmissions regularly achieved TV ratings of more than two million viewers and market shares of up to 30 percent. Fendt: “We can really be very happy with these results.”

Though the 2002 Olympic champion Sylke Otto, Germany, Armin Zoeggeler, Italy, and Patric Leitner-Alexander Resch, Germany, finally won the overall Viessmann Luge World Cups, many new names attracted attention, as for instance Slovakia’s Jaroslav Slavik who gained the European bronze medal. The World Cup events as well as the competitions of the Krombacher Challenge Cup were all very exciting and produced new winners such as Tony Benshoof, USA, Reinhold Rainer, Italy, and David Moeller, Germany.

“The various novelties introduced this season, such as qualification, Nations Cup within the World Cup too, and limited starters in the World Cup all stood the test successfully”, Fendt assessed the test phase lasting for the entire season. “Our races can be understood better by the spectators, they don’t last too long anymore and they can be planned better ahead by our TV partners”, the two-time World champion (1970/1974) explains the advantages, adding: “I am hoping that the national member federations will reward the courage of the FIL Execu-tive and accept the most important novelties. I am convinced that we are on the right road.”