Dear ski friends,

Winter sports have been firmly established in Oberwiesenthal for more than 100 years now. As a centre of high-performance sport the city has brought out 12 Olympic champions until now. Thanks to the perfect conditions that are given here in Oberwiesenthal I could also form a basis for both of my Olympic medals as well as for my world cup victory in 2004.

After the “Sparkassen-Skiarena” was inaugurated on 2 December 2006 the conditions have even improved noticeably for cross-county skiers. A wonderful area was formed, which is eminently suitable for exciting and eventful competitions. The German championships in 2008 as well as the European forestal skiing championships in Oberwiesenthal have already shown that the Fichtelberg is perfectly qualified for high-class competitions.

I am very happy that the WSC Erzgebirge Oberwiesenthal has applied for the organisation of the Masters World Cup in 2012. Therefore it is a great honour for me to get the main responsibility for this significant event.

I really look forward to welcoming you to the Masters World Cup in cross-county skiing in March 2012.

Yours sincerely

René Sommerfeldt

Cross-country skier at WSC Erzgebirge Oberwiesenthal
Born on 2 October 1974 in Zittau, Germany

Silver medallist World Championship 2001 Lahti (50 km freestyle)
Bronze medallist World Championship 2001 Lahti (4 x 10 km relay)
Bronze medallist Olympic Games 2002 (4 x 10 km relay)
Silver medallist World Championship Val di Fiemme 2003 (4 x 10 km relay)
Runner-up world cup 2003 and 2008
World cup victory 2004
Silver medallist Olympic Games 2006 (4 x 6 km relay)
Runner-up Tour de Ski 2008