Koenigssee (pps) Germany’s Barbara Niedernhuber missed the 1998 Olympic gold medal in Nagano, Japan, by just two thousandths of a second, four years later she once again achieved Olympic silver in Salt Lake City, last season she gained her first international title by winning the overall Viessmann Luge World Cup, but the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Torino, Italy (February 10-26) will take place without her.

German national coach Thomas Schwab gave the third and last Olympic ticket to Tatjana Huefner when she finished runner-up at the Viessmann Luge World Cup at Koenigssee, Germany, last weekend. The other two German tickets for Torino had been allocated previously to the 2002 Olympic and four-time World champion Sylke Otto and the 1998 Olympic and 2004 World champion, Silke Kraushaar.