Calgary (pps) The Tiscover Challenge Cup will give the starting signal for the Olympic luge season. The competitions with ten sleds in the women’s and men’s singles as well as double-seater will start on Friday (November 20, 2009 / start at 15:00 hrs local time / 23:00 hrs CET), thus kicking-off the luge season with the Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, Canada (February 12-28, 2010) as the absolute highlight. Defending champions are two-time World champion Tatjana Huefner of Germany, two-time Olympic and five-time World champion Armin Zoeggeler of Italy as well as his compatriots and current World champions in the double-seater, Gerhard Plankensteiner-Oswald Haselrieder.
Compared to last year, the rules of the Tiscover Challenge Cup remain unchanged. Ten sleds will start in each of the three disciplines – women’s single, men’s single and double-seater. A maximum of two athletes per nation are eligible in compliance with the current seeded list. At the season’s opener in Calgary, the overall World Cup rankings serve as a basis.
Two groups with five sleds are drawn. The four fastest athletes then qualify for the final. The third- and fourth-placed of the preliminary round will then compete in the so-called “small final” for third place. The respective winners of the two groups in the preliminary round then fight for victory.
The prize money offered in the Tiscover Challenge Cup: the winner in the women’s and men’s singles will receive Euro 2,000, the winner in the double-seater 2,400 Euro. A total prize money of 46,000 Euro is at stake at the Tiscover Challenge Cup with three competitions in Calgary, Lillehammer, Norway (December 12, 2009) and Cesana, Italy (January 29, 2010).
