Oberhof (pps) Six years ago he won the World junior title in Calgary; in the post-Olympic winter Austrian Markus Kleinheinz left the 1988 Olympic city as the leader of
the Viessmann Luge World Cup. „Everything is going very well this year”, says the
26-year-old Austrian who gained his top position by finishing runner-up in Park City
and Calgary. “I know now that I can win a race at some point. But I don’t put myself
under pressure”, Kleinheinz added.
Kleinheinz, who finished eighth in the 2002 Olympics, owes his rise to a top slider not
least his sled which he “inherited” from Markus Prock who retired. „This sled has
much more traction than my own sled”, the Tyrolese describes the advantage.
Germany’s Sylke Otto, leader in the women’s rankings, does not have any problems
with her equipment. Two competitions, two wins and with maximum points (200) at
the top of the rankings: That’s the current record of the Olympic and two-time World
champion. And in the meantime the 32-year-old does no longer exclude competing in
the 2006 Olympic Games in Turin: “I decide year by year. But if everything is going
as well as currently, Turin would not be out of the question”, Sylke Otto discloses.
The competition at Oberhof promises a lot of tension in the doubles’ event, where the
Americans Mark Grimmette-Brian Martin and the Germans Patric Leitner-Alexander
Resch are joint leaders with 185 points each. Although Germany’s Steffen Skel-Steffen Woeller, fourth in the Olympics, have yet failed to show a convincing per-formance due to problems with the equipment, the 2001 World champions André
Florschuetz/Torsten Wustlich must still wait for their chance because they did not
qualify for the World Cup. Germany’s head coach Thomas Schwab did not schedule
an internal qualification during training.
David Moeller: „Very high expectations at Oberhof “
Oberhof (pps) The two-time World junior champion David Moeller is looking forward
to the Viessmann Luge World Cup on his home-track at Oberhof next weekend with
hope and dread. „The expectations are naturally very high – not just my own, but also
from others”, says the 20-year-old who attracted attention by finishing fifth in Calgary
and setting an intermediate track record.
The schedule at Oberhof
Oberhof (pps) A wish will be fulfilled for Germany’s three-time Olympic champion
Georg Hackl and many men’s lugers at the Viessmann Luge World Cup at Oberhof.
For the first time the men’s event will be the first of the three disciplines on Saturday,
December 7 (start 1 st heat: 12:00 hrs CET). The women’s and doubles’ competitions
will follow on Sunday, December 8 (start 11:30 hrs CET).
The track records at Oberhof
Oberhof (pps) All track records on the second-oldest artificial track of the world in
Oberhof belong to German lugers. Georg Hackl’s record dates back to the 1998 Vi-essmann
Luge World Cup. Oberhof hosts a World Cup for the 17 th time.
The track records
Women: Silke Kraushaar (Germany) 41,471 seconds
Men: Georg Hackl (Germany) 44,129 seconds
Doubles: Leitner-Resch (Germany) 41,689 seconds
Editorial: cosmos-pps Kommunikations GmbH
Wolfgang Harder
Windscheidstr. 6
D 10627 Berlin
+49-173 – 60 733 52
Email: HardyWolfgang@aol.com
