The 22-year-old from Măcărești Ungheni and his 29-year-old fellow competitor from Chemnitz lent their sleds to competitors from other nations for critical World Cup races during the Olympic season after Chinese customs had detained much of their equipment following competition on their Olympic track in Yanqing.

FIL President Einars Fogelis said: "Especially during the phase of Olympic qualification, it is particularly creditable to the athletes if they help out their competitors with material."

Șișcanu and Eissler dedicated the award to fellow lugers who lent their equipment to other competitors last winter.

"This became important due to an extraordinary situation," the FIL said.

"After the opening of the World Cup on the Chinese Olympic track in Yanqing, the international luge team travelled from China to Russia.

"In the process, some boxes of sledges and material were detained by customs in China.

"For the following three World Cups, the athletes of many teams had to do without some of their material or borrow sleds and equipment.

"Only thanks to the sporting behaviour of some lugers like especially Șișcanu and Eissler, some athletes had the chance to qualify for the Olympic Winter Games in Beijing 2022."

Fogelis added: "The FIL Executive Board gives this award to Chris Eissler and Ion Șișcanu because we are particularly proud that our top athletes behave in a sporting fair manner and deserve these awards.

"This behaviour shows that our athletes exemplify the core values of sport in the spirit of fair play."

The awards will be handed over personally to the two winners during the upcoming World Cup season.