 Schopf (right) at the FIL European Luge Natural Track Championships 2009. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Andreas Schopf (born April 9, 1984) is an Austrian luger who has competed since 2000. A natural track luger, he won four medals at the FIL World Luge Natural Track Championships with two golds (Men's doubles: 2001, 2003) and two silvers (Men's doubles and mixed team: both 2009).
Austria, officially the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe comprising 9 federated states. Its capital, largest city and one of nine states is Vienna. Austria has an area of 83,879 km2 (32,386 sq mi), a population of nearly 9 million people and a nominal GDP of $477 billion. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Hungary and Slovakia to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west. The terrain is highly mountainous, lying within the Alps; only 32% of the country is below 500 m (1,640 ft), and its highest point is 3,798 m (12,461 ft). The majority of the population speaks local Bavarian dialects as their native language, and German in its standard form is the country's official language. Other regional languages are Hungarian, Burgenland Croatian, and Slovene.
A luge is a small one- or two-person sled on which one sleds supine and feet-first. A luger steers by using their calf muscles to flex the sled's runners or by exerting opposite shoulder pressure to the seat. Racing sleds weigh 21–25 kg (46–55 lb) for singles and 25–30 kg (55–66 lb) for doubles. Luge is also the name of an Olympic sport.
The FIL World Luge Natural Track Championships, part of the International Luge Federation (FIL) have taken place on an almost annual basis in non-Winter Olympics years since 1979. These championships are shown for natural tracks. See FIL World Luge Championships for all artificial track events that have taken place since 1955.
Schopf also won three medals at the FIL European Luge Natural Track Championships with two golds (men's doubles: 2002, mixed team: 2010) and a bronze (men's doubles: 2004).
The FIL European Luge Natural Track Championships, part of the International Luge Federation (FIL), have taken place since 1970. A team event was added for the 2010 championships. For information on artificial track luge championships in Europe that have been contested since 1914, please see FIL European Luge Championships.
The FIL European Luge Natural Track Championships 2002 took place in Frantschach, Austria.
The FIL European Luge Natural Track Championships 2010 was held 15–17 January 2010 in Sankt Sebastian, Austria. A team event debuted at these championships, the first change to the FIL European Luge Natural Track Championships since they began in 1970. Italy earned their 100th medal at these championships.
