List of Olympic medalists in luge

Olympic medalists from East Germany at the 1988 Winter Olympics: Jörg Hoffmann (far left) and Jochen Pietzsch (second from left), doubles champions; Cerstin Schmidt (second from right), women's singles bronze medalist; and Jens Müller (far right), gold medalist in the men's singles.

Luge is one of the seven Olympic sports currently contested at the Winter Olympic Games.^[1] It has been a constant presence in the Olympic program since its introduction at the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria,^[2] in the form of three events: men's singles, women's singles, and doubles.^{[lower-alpha 1]} A mixed team relay event was contested for the first time at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.^[4]

History

German luger Georg Hackl is the overall medal leader in the sport, having collected a total of five medals (three golds and two silvers) in the men's singles, during the six Winter Games in which he competed (1988–2006).^[5] Following his victory at the 1992 Winter Olympics, Hackl was the first male luger to successfully defend an Olympic title, in 1994.^[5] By repeating this feat in Nagano 1998, he joined two other men (Swedish figure skater Gillis Grafström and German skier Ulrich Wehling) and two women (Norwegian figure skater Sonja Henie and American speed skater Bonnie Blair) who had won the same individual event in three consecutive Olympic Games. Hackl was also the first-ever Olympian to win at least one medal in five consecutive Olympics.^[5] This effort was matched by Armin Zöggeler of Italy, who won his fifth straight Olympic medal (bronze) in the men's singles at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada. In 2002, Zöggeler outperformed Hackl and prevented him from reaching a unique fourth successive gold medal. Four years later, in Turin, Zöggeler became the second male luger to win back-to-back titles. Ten-time World Cup champion Markus Prock of Austria never fulfilled his success at Olympic level: in 1992 and 1994, Prock beat Georg Hackl to the World Cup title,^[6] but ended up losing the Olympic gold medal to the German.

In the women's event, Germany's Silke Kraushaar leads the medal count with three, one of each color. Steffi Martin and Sylke Otto—at 36, the oldest female individual gold medalist at the Winter Games^[7]—are the only lugers with two gold medals in their career. Ortrun Enderlein, representing the Unified Team of Germany, was the first woman to win the singles event in 1964. She was on the verge of defending her title at the 1968 Grenoble Games, having the best overall time after all the runs, but was disqualified together with fellow countrywomen Anna-Maria Müller (2nd) and Angela Knösel (4th) when it was discovered that the runners in their sleds had been illegally heated before the runs.^[8] Müller made up for this by taking the gold medal at the following Games, in Sapporo, Japan.

The most successful pair in the history of the Olympic doubles event was Stefan Krausse and Jan Behrendt, who represented East Germany in 1988 and the reunified German Olympic team from 1992 to 1998, winning four medals: two golds, one silver, and one bronze. East Germany's Hans Rinn and Norbert Hahn, and Austrian brothers Andreas and Wolfgang Linger, are the other pairs to have won two times, both of them in consecutive Olympics. In 1972, two gold medals were awarded to an East German (Horst Hörnlein and Reinhard Bredow) and an Italian pair (Paul Hildgartner and Walter Plaikner), who finished with exactly the same time. To prevent similar situations in future Olympics, the Fédération Internationale de Luge de Course introduced timing equipment that measured accurately to one thousandth of a second, to replace the old equipment that measured in hundredths of a second.^[9]

As of the 2010 Winter Olympics, 117 medals (40 gold, 38 silver, and 39 bronze) have been awarded to 105 lugers (53 in the singles and 52 in the doubles) representing nine National Olympic Committees (NOC).^[10] German lugers—representing the Unified Team of Germany (1964), West Germany (1968–1988), East Germany (1968–1988), and Germany (1992–2010)—have dominated this sport, collecting a total of 70 medals (27 gold, 22 silver, and 21 bronze).^[10] There were seven occasions when a single NOC filled the podium with its athletes and in all of them they were German. After the Vancouver Games, Germany is the current medal-leading NOC in the sport with 31 medals (13 gold, 10 silver, and 8 bronze), surpassing East Germany's 29 medals.^[10]

As the Italian luge team is completely recruited from South Tyrol, nearly all medal winners, except those from Soviet Union, Russia, United States and Latvia, are ethnically Germanic.

Medalists

Men's singles

Games	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1964 Innsbruck	Thomas Köhler  United Team of Germany	Klaus Bonsack  United Team of Germany	Hans Plenk  United Team of Germany
1968 Grenoble	Manfred Schmid  Austria	Thomas Köhler  East Germany	Klaus Bonsack  East Germany
1972 Sapporo	Wolfgang Scheidel  East Germany	Harald Ehrig  East Germany	Wolfram Fiedler  East Germany
1976 Innsbruck	Dettlef Günther  East Germany	Josef Fendt  West Germany	Hans Rinn  East Germany
1980 Lake Placid	Bernhard Glass  East Germany	Paul Hildgartner  Italy	Anton Winkler  West Germany
1984 Sarajevo	Paul Hildgartner  Italy	Sergey Danilin  Soviet Union	Valery Dudin  Soviet Union
1988 Calgary	Jens Müller  East Germany	Georg Hackl  West Germany	Yuri Kharchenko  Soviet Union
1992 Albertville	Georg Hackl  Germany	Markus Prock  Austria	Markus Schmidt  Austria
1994 Lillehammer	Georg Hackl  Germany	Markus Prock  Austria	Armin Zöggeler  Italy
1998 Nagano	Georg Hackl  Germany	Armin Zöggeler  Italy	Jens Müller  Germany
2002 Salt Lake City	Armin Zöggeler  Italy	Georg Hackl  Germany	Markus Prock  Austria
2006 Turin	Armin Zöggeler  Italy	Albert Demchenko  Russia	Mārtiņš Rubenis  Latvia
2010 Vancouver	Felix Loch  Germany	David Möller  Germany	Armin Zöggeler  Italy
2014 Sochi	Felix Loch  Germany	Albert Demchenko  Russia	Armin Zöggeler  Italy

Women's singles

Games	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1964 Innsbruck	Ortrun Enderlein  United Team of Germany	Ilse Geisler  United Team of Germany	Helene Thurner  Austria
1968 Grenoble	Erica Lechner  Italy	Christina Schmuck  West Germany	Angelika Dünhaupt  West Germany
1972 Sapporo	Anna-Maria Müller  East Germany	Ute Rührold  East Germany	Margit Schumann  East Germany
1976 Innsbruck	Margit Schumann  East Germany	Ute Rührold  East Germany	Elisabeth Demleitner  West Germany
1980 Lake Placid	Vera Zozulya  Soviet Union	Melitta Sollmann  East Germany	Ingrīda Amantova  Soviet Union
1984 Sarajevo	Steffi Martin  East Germany	Bettina Schmidt  East Germany	Ute Weiss  East Germany
1988 Calgary	Steffi Walter  East Germany	Ute Oberhoffner  East Germany	Cerstin Schmidt  East Germany
1992 Albertville	Doris Neuner  Austria	Angelika Neuner  Austria	Susi Erdmann  Germany
1994 Lillehammer	Gerda Weissensteiner  Italy	Susi Erdmann  Germany	Andrea Tagwerker  Austria
1998 Nagano	Silke Kraushaar  Germany	Barbara Niedernhuber  Germany	Angelika Neuner  Austria
2002 Salt Lake City	Sylke Otto  Germany	Barbara Niedernhuber  Germany	Silke Kraushaar  Germany
2006 Turin	Sylke Otto  Germany	Silke Kraushaar  Germany	Tatjana Hüfner  Germany
2010 Vancouver	Tatjana Hüfner  Germany	Nina Reithmayer  Austria	Natalie Geisenberger  Germany
2014 Sochi	Natalie Geisenberger  Germany	Tatjana Hüfner  Germany	Erin Hamlin  United States

Doubles

Games	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1964 Innsbruck	Josef Feistmantl and Manfred Stengl  Austria	Reinhold Senn and Helmut Thaler  Austria	Walter Aussendorfer and Sigisfredo Mair  Italy
1968 Grenoble	Klaus Bonsack and Thomas Köhler  East Germany	Manfred Schmid and Ewald Walch  Austria	Wolfgang Winkler and Fritz Nachmann  West Germany
1972 Sapporo	Horst Hörnlein and Reinhard Bredow  East Germany	None awarded	Klaus Bonsack and Wolfram Fiedler  East Germany
	Paul Hildgartner and Walter Plaikner  Italy
1976 Innsbruck	Hans Rinn and Norbert Hahn  East Germany	Hans Brandner and Balthasar Schwarm  West Germany	Rudolf Schmid and Franz Schachner  Austria
1980 Lake Placid	Hans Rinn and Norbert Hahn  East Germany	Peter Gschnitzer and Karl Brunner  Italy	Georg Fluckinger and Karl Schrott  Austria
1984 Sarajevo	Hans Stangassinger and Franz Wembacher  West Germany	Yevgeny Belousov and Aleksandr Belyakov  Soviet Union	Jörg Hoffmann and Jochen Pietzsch  East Germany
1988 Calgary	Jörg Hoffmann and Jochen Pietzsch  East Germany	Stefan Krausse and Jan Behrendt  East Germany	Thomas Schwab and Wolfgang Staudinger  West Germany
1992 Albertville	Stefan Krausse and Jan Behrendt  Germany	Yves Mankel and Thomas Rudolph  Germany	Hansjörg Raffl and Norbert Huber  Italy
1994 Lillehammer	Kurt Brugger and Wilfried Huber  Italy	Hansjörg Raffl and Norbert Huber  Italy	Stefan Krausse and Jan Behrendt  Germany
1998 Nagano	Stefan Krausse and Jan Behrendt  Germany	Chris Thorpe and Gordon Sheer  United States	Mark Grimmette and Brian Martin  United States
2002 Salt Lake City	Patric Leitner and Alexander Resch  Germany	Mark Grimmette and Brian Martin  United States	Chris Thorpe and Clay Ives  United States
2006 Turin	Andreas Linger and Wolfgang Linger  Austria	André Florschütz and Torsten Wustlich  Germany	Gerhard Plankensteiner and Oswald Haselrieder  Italy
2010 Vancouver	Andreas Linger and Wolfgang Linger  Austria	Andris Šics and Juris Šics  Latvia	Patric Leitner and Alexander Resch  Germany
2014 Sochi	Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt  Germany	Andreas Linger and Wolfgang Linger  Austria	Andris Šics and Juris Šics  Latvia

Team relay

Games	Gold	Silver	Bronze
2014 Sochi	Germany (GER) Natalie Geisenberger Felix Loch Tobias Wendl Tobias Arlt	Russia (RUS) Tatiana Ivanova Albert Demchenko Alexander Denisyev Vladislav Antonov	Latvia (LAT) Elīza Tīruma Mārtiņš Rubenis Andris Šics Juris Šics

Statistics

Medal leaders

Athletes that have won at least two medals are listed below. Medalists are sorted first by the total number of medals, then successively by the number of gold, silver and bronze medals. If a tie is still verified, medalists are ordered chronologically by their first medal.

Men

Athlete	NOC	Olympics	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
Zöggeler, ArminArmin Zöggeler	Italy (ITA)	1994–2014	2	1	3	6
Hackl, GeorgGeorg Hackl	West Germany (FRG)  Germany (GER)	1988–2002	3	2	0	5
Krausse, StefanStefan Krausse	East Germany (GDR)  Germany (GER)	1988–1998	2	1	1	4
Behrendt, JanJan Behrendt	East Germany (GDR)  Germany (GER)	1988–1998	2	1	1	4
Bonsack, KlausKlaus Bonsack	United Team of Germany (EUA)	1964–1972	1	1	2	4
Loch, FelixFelix Loch	Germany (GER)	2010–2014	3	0	0	3
Köhler, ThomasThomas Köhler	United Team of Germany (EUA)	1964–1968	2	1	0	3
Hildgartner, PaulPaul Hildgartner	Italy (ITA)	1972–1984	2	1	0	3
Linger, AndreasAndreas Linger	Austria (AUT)	2006–2014	2	1	0	3
Linger, WolfgangWolfgang Linger	Austria (AUT)	2006–2014	2	1	0	3
Demchenko, AlbertAlbert Demchenko	Russia (RUS)	2006–2014	0	3	0	3
Prock, MarkusMarkus Prock	Austria (AUT)	1992–2002	0	2	1	3
Šics, AndrisAndris Šics	Latvia (LAT)	2010–2014	0	1	2	3
Šics, JurisJuris Šics	Latvia (LAT)	2010–2014	0	1	2	3
Rinn, HansHans Rinn	East Germany (GDR)	1976–1980	2	0	0	2
Hahn, NorbertNorbert Hahn	East Germany (GDR)	1976–1980	2	0	0	2
Wendl, TobiasTobias Wendl	Germany (GER)	2014	2	0	0	2
Arlt, TobiasTobias Arlt	Germany (GER)	2014	2	0	0	2
Hoffmann, JörgJörg Hoffmann	East Germany (GDR)	1984–1988	1	0	1	2
Pietzsch, JochenJochen Pietzsch	East Germany (GDR)	1984–1988	1	0	1	2
Müller, JensJens Müller	East Germany (GDR)  Germany (GER)	1988–1998	1	0	1	2
Leitner, PatricPatric Leitner	Germany (GER)	2002–2010	1	0	1	2
Resch, AlexanderAlexander Resch	Germany (GER)	2002–2010	1	0	1	2
Raffl, HansjörgHansjörg Raffl	Italy (ITA)	1992–1994	0	1	1	2
Huber, NorbertNorbert Huber	Italy (ITA)	1992–1994	0	1	1	2
Thorpe, ChrisChris Thorpe	United States (USA)	1998–2002	0	1	1	2
Grimmette, MarkMark Grimmette	United States (USA)	1998–2002	0	1	1	2
Martin, BrianBrian Martin	United States (USA)	1998–2002	0	1	1	2

Women

Athlete	NOC	Olympics	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
Geisenberger, NatalieNatalie Geisenberger	Germany (GER)	2010–2014	2	0	1	3
Kraushaar, SilkeSilke Kraushaar	Germany (GER)	1998–2006	1	1	1	3
Hüfner, TatjanaTatjana Hüfner	Germany (GER)	2006–2014	1	1	1	3
Martin, SteffiSteffi Martin	East Germany (GDR)	1984–1988	2	0	0	2
Otto, SylkeSylke Otto	Germany (GER)	2002–2006	2	0	0	2
Schumann, MargitMargit Schumann	East Germany (GDR)	1972–1976	1	0	1	2
Rührold, UteUte Rührold	East Germany (GDR)	1972–1976	0	2	0	2
Niedernhuber, BarbaraBarbara Niedernhuber	Germany (GER)	1998–2002	0	2	0	2
Erdmann, SusiSusi Erdmann	Germany (GER)	1992–1994	0	1	1	2
Neuner, AngelikaAngelika Neuner	Austria (AUT)	1992–1998	0	1	1	2

Medals per year

×

NOC did not exist

#

Number of medals won by the NOC

–

NOC did not win any medals

NOC	1924–60	64	68	72	76	80	84	88	92	94	98	02	06	10	14	Total
Austria (AUT)		3	2	–	1	1	–	–	4	2	1	1	1	2	1	19
United Team of Germany (EUA)		5	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	5
East Germany (GDR)		×	3	8	5	3	4	6	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	29
West Germany (FRG)		×	3	–	3	1	1	2	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	10
Germany (GER)		×	×	×	×	×	×	×	4	3	5	5	4	5	5	31
Italy (ITA)		1	1	1	–	2	1	–	1	4	1	1	2	1	1	17
Latvia (LAT)		×	×	×	×	×	×	×	–	–	–	–	1	1	2	4
Russia (RUS)		×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	–	–	–	1	–	2	3
Soviet Union (URS)		–	–	–	–	2	3	1	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	6
United States (USA)		–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	2	2	–	–	1	5

Medal sweep events

These are events in which athletes from one NOC won all three medals.

Games	Event	NOC	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1964 Innsbruck	Men's Singles	United Team of Germany (EUA)	Thomas Köhler	Klaus-Michael Bonsack	Hans Plenk
1972 Sapporo	Men's Singles *	East Germany (GDR)	Wolfgang Scheidel	Harald Ehrig	Wolfram Fiedler
	Women's Singles		Anna-Maria Müller	Ute Rührold	Margit Schumann
1984 Sarajevo	Women's Singles		Steffi Walter-Martin	Bettina Schmidt	Ute Oberhoffner-Weiß
1988 Calgary	Women's Singles		Steffi Walter-Martin	Ute Oberhoffner-Weiß	Cerstin Schmidt
2002 Salt Lake City	Women's Singles	Germany (GER)	Sylke Otto	Barbara Niedernhuber	Silke Kraushaar
2006 Turin	Women's Singles		Sylke Otto	Silke Kraushaar	Tatjana Hüfner

• ^* In addition to sweeping the podium, the country also had the fourth-place finisher.

See also

• FIL World Luge Championships
• FIL World Luge Natural Track Championships

Notes

1. Technically, the doubles event is considered a mixed event, open for male, female and mixed duos, but since its debut it has been traditionally entered only by male pairs.^[3]

References

Medalists

• "Results and Medalists". Olympic.org. International Olympic Committee.

Citations

1. "Luge Equipment and History". Olympic.org. International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 1 April 2010.
2. Kubatko, Justin. "Luge at the 1964 Innsbruck Winter Games". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 1 April 2010.
3. "International Luge Federation". Olympic.org. International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 1 April 2010.
4. "Luge: About discipline". sochi2014.com. Organizing Committee of the XXII Olympic Winter Games and XI Paralympic Winter Games of 2014 in Sochi. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
5. Kubatko, Justin. "Georg Hackl Biography and Olympic Results". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 1 April 2010.
6. "Rodel Weltcup: 1977/78 bis 2008/09 Herren" (PDF). Official Website of the Fédération Internationale de Luge de course (in German). FIL. Retrieved 11 April 2010.
7. "Records and medals at the Olympic Winter Games" (PDF). Olympic.org. International Olympic Committee. October 2009. Retrieved 1 April 2010.
8. Kubatko, Justin. "Luge at the 1968 Grenoble Winter Games". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 2 April 2010.
9. "Preview: Doubles luge". Canadian Luge Association. 16 February 2010. Retrieved 10 April 2010.
10. Kubatko, Justin. "Luge". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 2 April 2010.

External links

• International Luge Federation