Fair-Play Award for Șișcanu and Eissler

Salzburg (FIL/05 Oct. 2022) Ionut Șișcanu and Chris Eissler will be awarded the Fair-Play Prize by the International Luge Federation, FIL for their unique gesture of fairness during the 2021/22 Olympic season.

The 22-year-old Moldovan from Măcărești Ungheni and his 29-year-old colleague from Chemnitz in Saxony lent their sleds to their competitors from other nations for World Cup races during the Olympic season. FIL President Einars Fogelis appreciates this fair gesture: "Especially during the phase of Olympic qualification, it is particularly creditable to the athletes if they help out their competitors with material".

Șișcanu and Eissler receive the award in an exemplary manner also for other lugers who lent their material to fellow lugers last winter. This became important due to an extraordinary situation: After the opening of the EBERSPÄCHER World Cup on the Chinese Olympic track in Yanqing, the international luge team travelled from China to Russia. In the process, some boxes of sledges and material were detained by customs in China. For the following three World Cups, the athletes of many teams had to do without some of their material or borrow sleds and equipment. 

Only thanks to the sporting behaviour of some lugers like especially Șișcanu and Eissler, some athletes had the chance to qualify for the Olympic Winter Games in Beijing 2022.

"The FIL Executive Board gives this award to Chris Eissler and Ion Șișcanu because we are particularly proud that our top athletes behave in a sporting fair manner and deserve these awards. This behaviour shows that our athletes in exemplify the core values of sport in the spirit of Fair Play," said FIL President Einars Fogelis.

The Fair Play awards will be handed over personally to the two winners during the upcoming EBERSPÄCHER World Cup season.