Swedish Sliding Sports Federation: “At the moment we are seriously considering the possibility of reopening the track in Hammarstrand”

Stockholm (FIL): The Swedish government has mainly relied on recommendations, volunteers and a sense of responsibility, thus giving the competitive athletes much freedom. There was no lockdown, training centres were always open, masks were not compulsory and up to 50 people were allowed to meet.

The Secretary General of the Swedish Sliding Sports Federation Niclas Bentzer reports: “We have our own summer start ramp for the sport of luge. Since we are the only ones training there, the starting up of training was not an issue. In our sports hall we were able to train most of the necessary physical abilities such as strength, coordination, endurance and flexibility according to our wishes during spring and summer. Our national team is very small. We are only six athletes and two younger athletes in the development team. We were always able to train together in the way we wanted and planned. But of course we planned with special care to reduce the risk of infection. For example, we trained a lot outdoors and with distance to each other”.

Niclas Bentzer himself worked in the home office. The Swedish authorities have recommended that anyone who is able to do so should work from home from the beginning of the pandemic. He says: “This recommendation remains in place and will probably remain in place for quite some time. As with everything, there are advantages and disadvantages. But less travel means more time at home with the family and also the opportunity to spend more time outdoors”.

Despite the moderate and therefore very good training conditions over the summer, planning the season remains one of the biggest challenges for the Swedish luge team: “Everything is uncertain, and at times when we normally planned and booked all trips, we didn't even know where and when the competitions would take place. Covid-19 made the planning and logistics difficult. Now, regular testing must be included as an additional important factor in travel planning. Rising costs for Covid testing are a challenge. We prefer to spend the money on other things, such as ice time, sled development and coaches. But of course we all have to do everything we can to keep each other safe and healthy,” says the General Secretary of the Swedish federation.

Another major challenge is the travel restrictions. Niclas Bentzer explains: “Since we do not have a functioning track at home in Sweden, we have been using Lillehammer as our home track for many years. But if we cannot reach Norway without 14 days of self-isolation, it is impossible to travel there. This concerns especially our clubs and younger participants. We are seriously risking that athletes will drop out of artificial track luge because there are no tracks for training and competitions. This also makes it very difficult to recruit new luge athletes for artificial track. The coronavirus crisis could therefore have a negative impact on our sport for years to come. At the moment we are seriously considering the possibility of reopening the track in Hammarstrand. We need to do everything we can to support our clubs and athletes”.