Bobsleigh-Germany's Koenigssee to host 2017 world championships

BERLIN, Dec 19 (Reuters) - Germany's Koenigssee will host the 2017 world championships after they were taken away from Russia's Sochi following the country's doping scandal, the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF) said on Monday. Germany was picked due to its location, suitable for all the athletes who will be racing in Europe at the time, organisers' experience and track availability at such short notice, the IBSF said. The event was taken away from Sochi last week following the publication of the second part of the McLaren Report into Russian doping which revealed an institutional conspiracy to conceal positive tests. Latvia had pulled out in protest over the event being held in Russia while South Korea, host of the 2018 Winter Olympics, and skeleton athletes from the United States had also been considering withdrawing from the Feb. 13-26 championships. The McLaren report, commissioned by the World Anti-Doping Agency, said analysis of samples from four Russians who won gold medals at the Sochi 2014 Olympics had shown salt readings that were physiologically impossible. There was also evidence of tampering with the samples of 12 Russian medallists at those Games. (Reporting by Karolos Grohmann, editing by Ed Osmond)