FIBT novice

FIBT Newsletter

March 21, 2009
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FIBT International Sliding School Returns to Lake Placid March 22-29
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LAKE PLACID, N.Y. - The FIBT International Sliding School returns to the Olympic Sports Complex at Mt, Van Hoevenberg March 22-29. This program provides an opportunity for inexperienced or new drivers, primarily from nations without tracks, to learn from World Cup-level athletes and coaches and to practice on the Lake Placid refrigerated track facility.

Fourteen nations will be participating in this year's FIBT International Sliding School, with 43 bobsled and 19 skeleton athletes pre-registered. Many of these athletes will stay in Lake Placid to compete in the America's Cup Bobsled and Skeleton competition at the Olympic Sports Complex March 29-April 5, giving them the chance to use their new sliding skills.

The FIBT International Sliding School, which started inj 2006, is a collaborative effort between the FIBT, the New York Olympic regional Development Authority, and the United States Olympic Committee (USOC).

FIBT Selects Königssee, Germany for 2011 World Championships
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LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND- Coming off a successful 2009 World Championship last month in Lake Placid, New York, the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (FIBT) has announced that the 2011 World Bobsleigh and Skeleton Championships have been awarded to the German Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation and to the Königssee track.

The FIBT's 2008-2009 World Cup and World Championship season completed February 17-Mach 1 in Lake Placid, New York. It was the 10th World or Olympic bob/skeleton event for Lake Placid, the historic home of bobsleigh in North America with races dating back to the 1932 Olympic Winter Games.

"The Lake Placid Worlds had all the elements to be deemed a success by the federation: good crowds, strong television audiences, and a good dispersion of medals with six different nations making the podium over six different events," said FIBT President Robert H. Storey.

Germany led the way in the Lake Placid World Championship medal count with two golds, two silvers and two bronze. Switzerland (2-1-0), Great Britain (1-2-0) and the USA (1-1-2) each claimed three medals. Bronze medals were also won by Latvia and Russia.

Overnight television ratings in Germany were solid with 15.37 million viewers tuning in to ARD sports programs the first weekend to watch women's bob and 2-man bobsleigh. The average market share the first weekend (February 21-22) was 16%. German national network ZDF carried skeleton and four-man bobsleigh coverage the second weekend (February 27-March1). Over six million viewers saw four-man bobsleigh, with 2.05 million on board for the final heat on March1 that was live for 40 minutes.

The Bauhaus FIBT World Championship was broadcast worldwide, including same day coverage of the final heat of women's bob, 2-man bob, men's skeleton and 4-man bob on the Universal Sports channel in the USA. Other networks providing extensive coverage of the World Championship included ARD and ZDF (Germany), RTR Sport (Russia), CBC (Canada), British Eurosport II (United Kingdom), POLSAT (Poland), VIASAT Sport (Scandinavia and the Baltics), Canal+ Sport (France), RAI Sport (Italy), SRG (Switzerland), MBC (Korea) and Chello Central Europe.

The 20111 FIBT World Championships had been awarded to the Italian Federation and Cortina d''Ampezzo at the FIBT Congress in June 2007. Due to local difficulties the city of Cortina and the Cortina Bob Club had to renounce the organisation of the event. The second bidder for the 2011 World Championships was the German Federation and they have put forward single candidate, Königssee, for the 2011 World Championships as a replacement for Cortina.

Königssee forms part of the Munich bid for the Olympic Winter Games of 2018 and significant investment has been allocated to improving and updating the Königssee facility as part of the bid. Königssee last hosted the FIBT Championships in 2004. It marked the first time that all FIBT disciplines (2-man bob, 4-man bob, women's bob, and men's and women's skeleton) were held at one venue.

2009 FIBT Congress Set for Moscow
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LAUSANNE, Switzerland - The 2009 FIBT Congress meeting will be held at the Radisson SAS Slavyanskaya Hotel in Moscow, Russia from May 29-31. Committee meetings are planned for May 29, with the pre-Congress session slated for Saturday, May 30. The Congress, hosted by the Russian Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation, is set for Sunday, May 30.

Virtual Skeleton Championship at Empire of Sports through March 28
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PARIS --Empire of Sports, the first massively connected multisport 3D game, has partnered with the International Federation of Bobsleigh and Skeleton (FIBT) to bring the first ever virtual World Skeleton Championships to Empire of Sports. The championships will run from March18-28.

More than just a game, Empire of Sports is a sports platform designed to echo the major real life sports events around the world, and provide all sports fans with an extended space to share and live their passion. Thanks to the valuable input from the ever growing community, Empire of Sports just keeps getting better - especially with the constant addition of new sports, clubs, sportsmen, competitions, events, and sports brands.

The Virtual World Skeleton Championships will be available for all Empire of Sports players to enter until 28th March 2009. The Virtual World Skeleton Championships are part of the "special events" in Empire of Sports: the qualification phase is open to everybody, but only the qualified players holding a Premium account will be able to continue onto the final stages, and take a chance to win one of the competition's prizes.

One of the original winter Olympics sports, Bobsleigh is open for both men and women to compete in a sport that combines speed, power and agility. Lake Placid is the home of the original bob track and is ranked amongst one of the most difficult in the world and played host this year to the World Skeleton Championships 2009.

The Virtual World Skeleton Championships proudly hosted in Empire of Sports, is not for the faint hearted. Three among the brave enough players to speed their way to the top of the leader board will be rewarded with a real-life bobsleigh ride on an official track or a skeleton training day - including travel and accommodation! Runners up will be rewarded with an array of virtual prizes including gold, ranking points, boosted items and unique items for their avatars.

In order to ensure a fair competition, the Virtual World Skeleton Championships have been broken into a series of four competitions to welcome competitors of varying bobsleigh standards within the game.

·                     Amateur series (Level 1 to 15 in bob)
·                     Experienced series (Level 16 to 30 in bob)
·                     Pro series (Level 31 to 45 in bob)
·                     Elite series (Level 45 and above in bob)

Empire of Sports is currently in the Prologue phase: this phase allows Empire of Sports to expand progressively, with the help and feedback of a vast community.
If you are interested in entering one of the Empire of Sports tournaments and fancy your chances of winning one of many exciting prizes, all you need to do is download the game client from www.empireofsports.com, register and start playing!