Sigulda (pps) World Champion Tatjana Hüfner (GER) crowned her nearly perfect season with the victory in the final race of Viessmann luge World Cup and in the Overall World Cup. The delight of the German team however was mixed with melancholy and some tears, because for Silke Kraushaar-Pielach (GER), the World Cup final in Sigulda (Latvia) was also the end of her active career as athlete. On the track where she won her first of totally 36 World Cup races more tha eleven years ago, the Olympic Champion of 1998 for good-bye gained rank three and a place on the podium. In overall ranking of Viessmann luge World Cup the title holder and five times Overall World Cup Champion finished second. Tatjana Hüfner, who with the final won seven of eight World Cup races in a row, in 1:25,943 seconds banned local hero Anna Orlova (LAT, 1:25,972) to second rank. The Olympic-seventh on her home track missed an „historical“ victory and therefore the end of the German series of victories with now 81 races only for nearly three hundreds of a second. In the last race of her career, the three times European Champion Silke Kraushaar-Pielach (GER, 1:26,019) finished third. Olympic bronze medallist Hüfner with 735 points also won the Overall Viessmann luge World Cup, followed by the World Champion of 2004 Silke Kraushaar-Pielach (GER; 650) and European Champion Natalie Geisenberger (GER, 518). Quotes: Tatjana Hüfner (GER, Olympic bronze medallist 2008, World Champion 2007 and 2008, Silver medal at European Championships 2004 and 2006, rank two in Overall World Cup 2006/07): “The season was great! Both, the victory in World Championships and in Overall World Cup are fantastic. I can’t explain, why in this season nearly everything worked so well, but I am more than happy. Anna Orlova (LAT, Olympic-seventh 2006, rank eight at European Championships 2006 and 2008, fourth rank at World Cup in Winterberg): “After I had a crash in the first World Cup race and hurt my head, the following races were not very good. So the second rank at home in Sigulda is a very nice finish for the season.” Silke Kraushaar-Pielach (GER, Olympic Champion 1998, World Champion 2004, European Champion 1998, 2004 and 2006, five times winner of Overall World Cup): „When waking up this morning, it seems to be a day like every other, but everyboty mentioned my last race and that was odd. Durind second run, I always thought, this is the last time – that’s not easy. I will miss the team and the companionship, but now my family is most important for me.