Lillehammer (pps/December 17, 2009) Between 1996 and 1999 Christian Niccum and his former partner Matt McClain won three Luge World Cup events. However, the team never made it to the Olympic Games. For the 1998 Winter Games in Nagano, Japan, the US Federation nominated Chris Thorpe-Gordy Sheer as well as Mark Grimmette-Brian Martin who promptly won the silver and bronze medals.

Then, four years ago, Christian Niccum competed at the 2006 Olympic Games in Torino - but he and Dan Joye then went different ways. Niccum, born in Minneapolis but now with his domicile in Seattle, finished 23rd in the men's singles. On the other hand, Dan Joye, born in San Tomé in Venezuela who now lives in Carmel, New York, competed at that time in the double-seater together with his partner Preston Griffal, earning an eighth place.

As a team, Niccum-Joye took a sixth place on their "home" track at the 2009 FIL Luge World Championships in Lake Placid and with their fourth place in Lillehammer they now managed to meet the qualifying standard for the Olympic Winter Games. This is why they deserve to be called the "top achievers" of the Olympic winter season. And rightly so. The same "commendation" goes to Austria's Reinhard Egger, Canada's Sam Edney as well as to the two Russian women lugers Alexandra Rodionova and Tatiana Ivanova.

Last year, the 20-year old 1,91m tall Reinhard Egger competed in the junior doubles' events together with David Schweiger. The soldier from Langkampfen - this is where two-time Olympic fourth-placed Tobias-Schiegl-Markus Schiegl come from - has attracted a lot of attention at his debut in the Luge World Cup. At his première in Calgary Egger managed a seventh place, thus becoming the most successful Austrian luger. His nomination for the Olympic Winter Games seems to be a foregone conclusion.

Canada's Sam Edney seems to have punched his ticket for the Olympic Games as well. He finished a career-best fifth in Calgary, achieved a best time in the second run in Igls, Austria, and with a respectable eighth place in Altenberg (GER) he quite pleased his German head coach Wolfgang Staudinger. "I could not have wanted more", Staudinger explained.

Without attracting much attention Russia's Alexandra Rodionova and Tatiana Ivanova climbed steadily upwards on the ranking lists. At "halftime" of the Luge World Cup the two lugers are on eighth and twelfth place respectively. Alexandra Rodionova, 11th at the World Championships, achieved a seventh place in Altenberg. Tatiana Ivanova, who will celebrate her 19th birthday on February 16 - precisely the day when the women's singles event at the Olympic Games will be carried out in Whistler - showed a convincing performance, finishing ninth in Lillehammer.