AUGSBURG - The first day of the adidas Ticket2Norway Rookie Camp was a complete success. Twenty talented newcomers from four different nations demonstrated their skills on the Augsburg Eiskanal in front of a demanding jury. Schorschi Schauff, Tim Weinmann and Markus Hummel had set a parcours in the channel on which the kayak rookies had to complete various tasks - e.g. rolls at certain locations - first on their own, later in a group.

Those who were not on the water had to pass a media and safety training. Axel Burkhardt, head of adidas Global Sports Marketing for Olypmic Sports, Cycling & Outdoor and initiator of the T2N Rookie Camp was highly pleased. "I am delighted about this group. My expectations for this weekend have already been surpassed. I have rarely met as many likable athletes in one fell swoop. Unfortunately we cannot take all of them along to Ötztal. And that decision is not made easy. However, the Ötz (river) is spating so for safety reasons we have to be strict."

Nevertheless, many rookies convinced the judges and instead of the anticipated ten candidate, thirteen T2N partcipants made it into the Recall. The following athletes were taken along to Ötztal: Christian 'Sputnik' Minkus (D), Jan Torge (D), Mathias Finke (D), Mira Kodada (CZ), Timo Trauth (D), Florian Petry (D), Florian Dillier (CH), Julian Stocker (CH), Stefan Haderer (D), Axel Knobbe (D), Thomas Hinkel (D), Felix Klee (D), David Krismayr (A).

First pictures of the T2N camp in Augsburg are posted in the T2N Gallery at www.ticket2norway.com