Luge World Championships 2008

space	country	gold	silver	bronze	total
1.	Germany	4th	3	2	9
2.	Austria	-	1	1	2
3.	Latvia	-	-	1	1

The flags of the participating countries

The 40th FIL Luge World Championships took place from January 24th to 27th, 2008 on the artificial ice rink in Oberhof , Thuringia .

It was the third World Cup in Oberhof after the world championships in 1973 and 1985, as well as the second major sporting event of the year in Oberhof, after the biathlon world cup shortly before.

Preparatory work and supporting program

logo

The Oberhof luge track was renovated in 2006 for four million euros. New start houses were built, the finish area relocated and curve seven rebuilt. In addition, two new stands, three video walls and a new billboard were built. Ticket sales went well, so that the tickets for the finish area were sold out for all three days of the race. The athletes have been preparing for the event on site since January 21st. An official opening event took place on the evening of January 24th from 8 p.m. in the local spa park, with singer Ute Freudenberg performing as the star guest . Award ceremonies took place in the evening on January 25th and 26th in the spa gardens, the "flower ceremonies" and the awards ceremony on the final day took place at the track. The closing ceremony followed on January 27 at 3 p.m. As part of a school project, sponsorships were taken over for all participating nations. The head of the organizing committee was Bernd Roßmann. Around 250 volunteers were used at the World Cup. This included 60 stewards, 30 judges, 100 supply workers, 15 cashiers, ten drivers and 30 soldiers, as well as members of the mountain rescue service. The World Cup budget was 630,000 euros. The organizers reckoned with 7,000 to 10,000 spectators daily, at the end of the day 17,000 visitors were counted. The official song for the World Cup, “Adrenalin”, was sung by the young German tobogganist Sascha Beneken.

Attendees

The German hosts entered the races as defending champions in all four competitions. In 2007 Tatjana Hüfner won in Igls with women , David Möller with men , Patric Leitner and Alexander Resch in doubles , and the German team in the team competition. The team competition at this World Cup was held as a relay competition for the first time. Two weeks earlier, the European Luge Championship 2008 took place in Cesana Pariol , but the German team performed comparatively disappointingly and could only win gold thanks to the young Natalie Geisenberger . It was far more successful there on their home track for the Italian team with Armin Zöggeler winning gold in the men's race and Christian Oberstolz and Patrick Gruber's doubles . Switzerland and above all Austria, especially thanks to Veronika Halder's bronze medal , achieved good results in Cesana. Latvia surprised with the European title in the team competition.

In addition to the European teams, starters from North America and Asia took part in the World Championships. Above all, the starters from North America were among the extended circle of title contenders in some competitions. Originally 25 national associations registered for the event, after Argentina, Croatia, Hungary, Sweden and Venezuela had canceled, the field of participants was reduced to starters from 21 nations. In the previous year, 27 nations took part. Athletes from Australia, Bulgaria, Germany, France, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Canada, Latvia, Moldova, Austria, Poland, Romania, Russia, Switzerland, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, the Czech Republic, Ukraine and the USA started. A total of 42 men, 36 women and 24 doubles were registered, but not all of them competed.

Results

Women

space	athlete	country	Terms	time
1	Tatjana Huefner	Germany	43,019 (1) 42,988 (2)	1: 26.007
2	Natalie Geisenberger	Germany	43,114 (2) 42,933 (1)	1: 26.047 +0.040
3	Silke Kraushaar-Pielach	Germany	43,139 (3) 43,010 (3)	1: 26.149 +0.142
4th	Natalja Jakuschenko	Ukraine	43,244 (4) 43,052 (4)	1: 26.296 +0.289
5	Anke Wischnewski	Germany	43,444 (5) 43,210 (5)	1: 26.654 +0.647
6th	Nina Reithmayer	Austria	43,472 (7) 43,367 (7)	1: 26.839 +0.832
7th	Martina Kocher	Switzerland	43,569 (8) 43,379 (8)	1: 26.948 +0.941
8th	Erin Hamlin	United States	43,633 (10) 43,382 (9)	1: 27.015 +1.008
9	Meaghan Simister	Canada	43,696 (12) 43,335 (6)	1: 27.031 +1.024
10	Anna Orlova	Ukraine	43,615 (9) 43,433 (10)	1: 27.048 +1.041
11	Maija Tīruma	Latvia	43,465 (6) 43,698 (14)	1: 27,163 +1,156
12	Julia Clukey	United States	43,930 (15) 43,486 (10)	1: 27,416 +1,409
13	Veronika Halder	Austria	43,686 (11) 43,763 (16)	1: 27,449 +1,442
14th	Lilia Ludan	Ukraine	43,879 (14) 43,627 (13)	1: 27,506 +1,499
15th	Alexandra Rodionova	Russia	43,813 (13) 43,834 (17)	1: 27,647 +1,640
16	Megan Sweeney	United States	43,998 (17) 43,749 (15)	1: 27,747 +1,740
17th	Regan Listener	Canada	44,256 (20) 43,553 (12)	1: 27.809 +1.802
18th	Sandra Gasparini	Italy	43,985 (16) 43,864 (18)	1: 27,849 +1,842
19th	Madoka Harada	Japan	44,096 (18) 43,899 (19)	1: 27,995 +1,988
20th	Sarah Podorieszach	Italy	44,208 (19) 44,047 (20)	1: 28.255 +2.248
21st	Jana Šišajová	Slovakia		44,315 +1,296
22nd	Raluca Strămăturaru	Romania		44,589 +1,570
23	Tatiana Newsorova	Russia		44,749 +1,730
24	Natalia Khoreva	Russia		44,841 +1,822
25th	Veronika Sabolová	Slovakia		45,011 +1,992
26th	Aya Yasuda	Japan		45.052 +2.033
27	Hannah Campbell-Pegg	Australia		45,132 +2,113
28	Mihaela Chiraş	Romania		45,177 +2,158
29	Petra Kaprasová	Czech Republic		45,868 +2,849
30th	Mariola Ziętek	Poland		46,498 +3,479

Date: January 25, 2008
There were a total of 30 athletes at the start. For the second round, the ten last placed starters were eliminated. The weather was sunny and windy. The placements in the individual runs are given in brackets after the running times.

Men

space	athlete	country	Terms	time
1	Felix Hole	Germany	44,996 (1) 45,647 (3)	1: 30.643
2	David Möller	Germany	45,017 (2) 45,700 (4)	1: 30.717 +0.074
3	Andi Langenhan	Germany	45,192 (4) 45,622 (2)	1: 30.814 +0.171
4th	Jan Eichhorn	Germany	45,101 (3) 46,033 (19)	1: 31.134 +0.491
5	Armin Zöggeler	Italy	45,342 (5) 45,843 (11)	1: 31.185 +0.542
6th	Stefan Höhener	Switzerland	45,673 (10) 45,532 (1)	1: 31.205 +0.562
7th	Albert Demchenko	Russia	45,527 (7) 45,802 (8)	1: 31.329 +0.686
8th	Daniel Pfister	Austria	45,688 (11) 45,742 (6)	1: 31.430 +0.787
9	Sam Edney	Canada	45,735 (12) 45,741 (5)	1: 31.476 +0.833
10	Martin adventure	Austria	45,504 (6) 46,032 (18)	1: 31.536 +0.893
11	Jeff Christie	United States	45,582 (9) 45,974 (16)	1: 31.556 +0.913
12	Bengt Walden	United States	45,529 (9) 46,081 (21)	1: 31.610 +0.967
13	Jozef Ninis	Slovakia	45,857 (13) 45,779 (7)	1: 31.636 +0.993
14th	Tony Benshoof	United States	45,888 (16) 45,852 (12)	1: 31,740 +1,097
15th	Ian Cockerline	Canada	45,862 (14) 45,895 (14)	1: 31,757 +1,114
16	Wilfried Huber	Italy	45,923 (17) 45,939 (15)	1: 31,862 +1,219
17th	Manuel Pfister	Austria	45,948 (19) 45,994 (17)	1: 31,942 +1,299
18th	Patrick Schwienbacher	Italy	46,079 (21) 45,875 (13)	1: 31,954 +1,311
19th	Gregory Carigiet	Switzerland	46,141 (22) 45,815 (9)	1: 31,956 +1,313
20th	Guntis Rēķis	Latvia	45,870 (15) 46,225 (23)	1: 32,095 +1,452
21st	Mārtiņš Rubenis	Latvia	46,449 (25) 45,826 (10)	1: 32,275 +1,632
22nd	Shigeaki Ushijima	Japan	46,384 (24) 46,071 (20)	1: 32,455 +1,812
23	Thomas Girod	France	46,258 (23) 46,211 (22)	1: 32,469 +1,826
24	David Mair	Italy	45,934 (8) 46,623 (24)	1: 32,557 +1,914
25th	Adam Rosen	United Kingdom	46,078 (20) 46,995 (25)	1: 33.073 +2.430
26th	Stepan Fyodorov	Russia		46,461 +1,465
27	Wolfgang Kindl	Austria		46,465 +1,469
28	Inārs Kivlenieks	Latvia		46,628 +1,632
29	Ondřej Hyman	Czech Republic		46,759 +1,763
30th	Jakub Hyman	Czech Republic		46,815 +1,819
31	Domen Pociecha	Slovenia		46,829 +1,833
32	Maciej Kurowski	Poland		46,843 +1,847
33	Jozef Kuchar	Slovakia		47,254 +2,258
34	Peter Iliev	Bulgaria		47,294 +2,298
35	Eugene Radu	Romania		47458 +2462
36	Ivan Papukciev	Bulgaria		47,630 +2,634
37	Bogdan Macovei	Moldova		48,033 +3,037
38	Grega Hacin	Slovenia		48.054 +3.058

Date: January 26th, 2008
A total of 38 tobogganers started. Only the best 25 starters from the first run qualified for the second run. The weather was sunny and windy. The placements in the individual runs are given in brackets after the running times.

The first three places in the men's category: David Möller, Felix Loch and Andi Langenhan (from left)

Two-seater

space	athlete	country	Terms	time
1	André Florschütz Torsten Wustlich	Germany	43,486 (1) 43,407 (2)	1: 26.893
2	Tobias Wendl Tobias Arlt	Germany	43,591 (3) 43,394 (1)	1: 26.985 +0.092
3	Markus Schiegl Tobias Schiegl	Austria	43,639 (4) 43,471 (3)	1: 27.110 +0.217
4th	Gerhard Plankensteiner Oswald Haselrieder	Italy	43,568 (2) 43,635 (7)	1: 27.203 +0.310
5	Peter Penz Georg Fischler	Austria	43,713 (6) 43,522 (4)	1: 27.235 +0.342
6th	Christian Niccum Dan Joye	United States	43,867 (8) 43,621 (6)	1: 27.488 +0.595
7th	Andreas Linger Wolfgang Linger	Austria	43,793 (7) 43,710 (10)	1: 27.503 +0.610
8th	Mikhail Kuzmich Stanislav Michejew	Russia	43,936 (9) 43,606 (5)	1: 27.542 +0.649
9	Mark Grimmette Brian Martin	United States	44,026 (10) 43,695 (8)	1: 27.721 +0.828
10	Chris Moffat Mike Moffat	Canada	44,087 (12) 43,695 (8)	1: 27.782 +0.889
11	Patric Leitner Alexander Resch	Germany	43,698 (5) 44,100 (13)	1: 27.798 +0.905
12	Hans Peter Fischnaller Klaus Kofler	Italy	44,076 (11) 43,828 (11)	1: 27,904 +1,011
13	Ivan Newmerzhizky Vladimir Prokhorov	Russia	44,233 (14) 43,940 (12)	1: 28.173 +1.280
14th	Ján Harniš Branislav Regec	Slovakia	44,936 (17) 44,205 (14)	1: 29.141 +2.248
15th	Andrij Kis Yuri Haiduk	Ukraine	44,641 (15) 44,599 (15)	1: 29.240 +2.347
16	Vladislav Yushakov Vladimir Makhnutin	Russia	44,806 (16) 44,885 (16)	1: 29,691 +2,798
17th	Cosmin Chetroiu Ionuț Țăran	Romania	45.127 (18) 45.105 (17)	1: 30.232 +3.339
18th	Andris Šics Juris Šics	Latvia	44,145 (13) 51,769 (18)	1: 35.914 +9.021
19th	Marcin Piekarski Grzegorz Piekarski	Poland		45,176 +1,690
20th	Antonín Brož Lukáš Brož	Czech Republic		45,364 +1,878
21st	Christian Oberstolz Patrick Gruber	Italy		46,020 +2,534
22nd	Oleg Cherebetskii Roman Jazwinskii	Ukraine		46,167 +2,681
23	Takahisa Oguchi Masaki Toshiro	Japan		1: 13,477 +29,991

Date: January 27, 2008
At the start there were a total of 23 toboggan doubles. Only the best 18 teams qualified for the second round. The weather was bad due to constant rain and partly gusty winds. The placements in the individual runs are given in brackets after the running times.

Team race

space	country	athlete	Terms	time
1	Germany	André Florschütz Torsten Wustlich Tatjana Hüfner Felix Loch	48,402 (1) 51,131 (2) 50,131 (2)	2: 29.664
2	Austria	Tobias Schiegl Markus Schiegl Nina Reithmayer Martin Abentung	48,629 (4) 51,257 (3) 50,190 (3)	2: 30.076 +0.412
3	Latvia	Andris Šics Juris Šics Maija Tīruma Guntis Rēķis	49,071 (7) 50,761 (1) 50,426 (7)	2: 30.258 +0.594
4th	Russia	Mikhail Kuzmitsch Stanislaw Michejew Alexandra Rodionowa Albert Demtschenko	48,862 (5) 51,496 (5) 50,011 (1)	2: 30.396 +0.705
5	United States	Christian Niccum Dan Joye Erin Hamlin Tony Benshoof	48,539 (3) 51,333 (4) 50,669 (8)	2: 30.541 +0.877
6th	Italy	Christian Oberstolz Patrick Gruber Sandra Gasparini Armin Zöggeler	48,512 (2) 51,796 (6) 50,385 (6)	2: 30,693 +1,029
7th	Canada	Chris Moffat Mike Moffat Meaghan Simister Jeff Christie	48,930 (6) 52,198 (9) 50,253 (5)	2: 31,381 +1,717
8th	Slovakia	Ján Harniš Branislav Regec Veronika Sabolová Jozef Ninis	49,664 (10) 51,832 (7) 50,241 (4)	2: 31.717 +2.053
9	Japan	Takahisa Oguchi Masaki Toshiro Madoka Harada Shigeaki Ushijima	49,534 (9) 52,044 (8) 51,013 (11)	2: 32,591 +2,927
10	Poland	Marcin Piekarski Grzegorz Piekarski Mariola Ziętek Maciej Kurowski	49,818 (11) 52,647 (11) 50,993 (10)	2: 33,458 +3,794
11	Czech Republic	Antonín Brož Lukáš Brož Petra Kaprasová Jakub Hyman	49,444 (8) 53,467 (12) 50,938 (9)	2: 33,849 +4,185
12	Romania	Cosmin Chetroiu Ionuț Țăran Raluca Strămăturaru Eugen Radu	51,609 (12) 52,280 (10) 51,640 (12)	2: 35,529 +5,865

Date: January 27, 2008
There were eight teams at the start. For the first time, the competition was not held in individual races, the individual results of which were then added to a team result, but as a relay competition. At the finish, the athletes had to trigger a mechanism that showed the following starters that they were allowed to start with a running time. First the two-seaters went into the race, then the women and finally the men's singles. The brackets behind the running times indicate the placement within the respective group.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ http://www.fil-luge.org/index.php?id=424&L=0&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=2739&cHash=eb3b04f49c6353850c7622e5bf3927e3&no_cache=1&sword_list%5B0%5D=no5&sword_list%5B0%5D=no5&sword_list%
2. ↑ http://www.fil-luge.org/index.php?id=424&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=2747&cHash=517c94f020e76497242df093402f9071

Web links

• Preliminary reports on the BSD website
• Results Women (PDF file; 14 kB) Men (PDF file; 16 kB) Doubles (PDF file; 12 kB) Relay (14 kB; PDF file)