GERMANY: A group of Germans is training for the 2007 bobsled Euro championships -- in a vineyard.

Seven German amateur bobsled racers are currently training for the 2007 European Championships for seniors -- in the vineyards on the banks of the Rhine river. Originally intended to take part in the annual carnival celebrations typical for this wine region known as Rheinhessen southwest of Frankfurt, bobsled "Rheinhessen 1" is now a serious contender for the Euro championships later this year in the Austrian ski resort of Igls (pron.: eagles), south of Innsbruck. Training with his team in the hills near Sprendlingen above the banks of the Rhine river, bobsled team member Frank Heilemann told Reuters Television on Saturday (February 3) that "we got the idea sitting in the kitchen with a glass of wine to purchase a bobsled by auction and then take it to the carnival and to national and international races." Sprendlingen is near the carnival stronghold of Mainz and thousands of people each year participate in the colourful parades of floats decorated with almost anything. In order to train with their newly acquired bobsled, Heilemann and his team-mates removed the blades and exchanged them for wheels, bringing back memories of the 1993 comedy film "Cool Runnings" about the adventures of the Jamaican bobsled team. Asked how his team would do in the March championships, Heilemann was full of confidence. "I think we have good chances at the (Austrian) European championships because we have already been training for a year." Heilemann said Olympic champion "Christoph Langen congratulated us today and he supports us and wished us a lot of fun." "I think we'll succeed in proving to the other teams that here in Rheinhessen we race bobsleds too." ENDS

ITN Source | February 10, 2007

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