Team GB in preparation: “We would like to compete in all disciplines”
Berchtesgaden (FIL): Great Britain has about 40 luge athletes who practice this sport mainly within the scope of their membership in the British Army, the Royal Air Force (RAF) or the Royal Navy. Two major training courses, in Autumn and Winter, are held annually for these athletes. The finals are the annual Interservice Championships, between the individual military teams and national British Luge Championships. This last took place on March 14th 2020 at Königssee (GER).
The Head Coach of the British luge World Cup team, Michael Berger, explains: “On Friday, March 14th, we still had our National Championships at Königssee. Afterwards everyone went home. I'm glad that it still worked out for everyone, because on March 17th the big lockdown came in Germany.”
COVID-19 hit Great Britain particularly hard. According to the BBC, between March 7th and June 5th 2020, more than 64,000 extra deaths were registered compared to previous years. Around 52,000 of these deaths could be directly linked to a Coronavirus infection. The country reacted late to the pandemic. The nationwide lockdown did not come until the end of March, later than in other European countries. Great Britain thus has more coronary deaths than any other country in Europe.
The luge team from Great Britain also had to cancel their Summer start course at Königssee. Trips from the British Isles to the mainland and Europe were not possible. Contact between the Head Coach in Germany and the athletes in Great Britain could only be maintained online and not personally. The start of the season on ice was planned for November at Königssee. After that, the World Cup kick-off will take place in Igls (AUT).
“Due to the new protection and hygiene concept of the FIL, we are only allowed to start at the World Cup with a maximum of two men due to the reduced starting field. Therefore, we will have to ride a race between Rupert Staudinger, Ray Thompson and Luke Farrer at the Koenigssee track first. In the Women's race I hope that Danielle Scott can start more often in the World Cup. She is no longer in the army and as a firefighter she now has to see whether she can use holiday time for the competitions. We are working on a doubles team for the coming season. We would like to start in all disciplines of the World Cup, but that is not easy. Our athletes have to pay most of the travel and hotels themselves. The managing director of GB Luge, Gavin Arnold told me again that we are short on money and that we can't pay for hotel accommodation for the athletes under any circumstances. It is already difficult to finance the World Cup season,” says head coach Michael Berger.