FIL President Fendt expresses both praise and criticism for Alpensia Sliding Centre

Bratislava (RWH) When Josef Fendt, President of the International Luge Federation (FIL), summed up last year, he had a lot of praise for the Alpensia Sliding Centre as the host venue for the Winter Olympic Games in PyeongChang, Korea. However, he also had some criticism, too. “There is no doubting that we had a great Winter Olympic Games in PyeongChang and that all those in charge did their best. However, when it comes to the efforts concerning the track’s reuse, we are very disappointed,” said Fendt to the delegates at the 66th FIL Congress in Bratislava (SVK).

The two-time World Champion called for a concept to ensure the sustainability of the artificial track in Korea. “Unfortunately, we still don’t have a Korean organisation or association, who we can talk to about future competitions on the Olympic track in PyeongChang. This is unacceptable and does not correspond to the Olympic idea,” said the FIL President, who has been in office since 1994. Fendt continued: “Particularly in light of the fact that the next Winter Olympic Games are taking place in Korea’s near-neighbour China in 2022, we would be willing to keep using the PyeongChang Sliding Centre with our competitors. However, the conditions at the track would have to be right and the track would have to be run properly with trained technical staff.”

In his report to the delegates from the 32 FIL member associations, Fendt also discussed the issues of the international association’s anti-doping measures and the FIL’s various applications to have new disciplines added to the Olympic programme. Fendt also gave a detailed insight into the countless new challenges facing the international association, such as good governance, gender equality and the EU’s new General Data Protection Regulation.”