Medal record | ||
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Luge | ||
Representing the ![]() | ||
World Championships | ||
![]() | 2004 Nagano | Mixed team |
![]() | 2005 Park City | Mixed team |
Ashley Walden (née Hayden; born November 5, 1981, in Framingham, Massachusetts) is an American luger who competed from 1998-2011. She won two silver medals in the mixed team event at the FIL World Luge Championships (2004, 2005).
Hayden also finished eighth in the women's singles event at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. Her best result in the Luge World Cup was a third place at Winterberg in 2005. In addition she won ten consecutive US national luge start championships in a row. [1]
In 2006, she married luger Bengt Walden, a naturalized American citizen originally from Sweden. For NBC Sports at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, she worked as a researcher for the luge events. She announced her retirement from competition in December 2011. [1] In May 2014 the United States Bobsled and Skeleton Federation announced that Walden had been appointed as the federation's director of internal operations. [2]
Georg Hackl, often named Hackl Schorsch, is a German former luger who was three time Olympic and World Champion. He is known affectionately as Hackl-Schorsch or as the Speeding Weißwurst, a reference to what he looks like in his white bodysuit coming down the luge at fast speeds.
Mārtiņš Rubenis is a retired Latvian luger who competed between 1998 and 2014. He won the bronze medal at the men's singles event at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, becoming the first Latvian to win a medal at the Winter Olympics and the only one fr He won his second bronze medal at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi in the Team Relay event. In total he competed in five Olympics.
Gerda Weissensteiner OMRI is an Italian luger and bobsleigh pilot who competed from the late 1980s to 2006. Competing in six Winter Olympics, she won the gold medal in the women's singles luge event at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, and together with Jennifer Isacco she won the bronze in Turin in the two-woman bobsleigh at the 2006 Winter Olympics. She was the first Italian sportsperson to win Olympic medals in two disciplines.
Silke Kraushaar-Pielach is a German luger who competed from 1995 to 2008. In June 2008, she was named sports manager for the luge section of Bob- und Schlittenverband für Deutschland.
Tatjana Hüfner is a German retired luger who has competed since 2003.
Torsten Wustlich is a German former luger who competed from 1998 to 2010. Together with André Florschütz, he won the silver medal in the men's doubles event at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin.
Gerhard Plankensteiner is an Italian former luger who competed from 1986 to 2010. Together with Oswald Haselrieder he won the bronze medal in the men's doubles event at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin.
Oswald Haselrieder OMRI is an Italian former luger who competed internationally from 1988 to 2010. He achieved success at junior level, taking two bronze medals in singles and a gold in doubles at the World Junior Championships, the latter achieved in partnership with Dietmar Pierhofer. Haselrider and Pierhofer continued to compete together until 1995, when they split up and Haselrieder joined forces with Gerhard Plankensteiner. Haselrieder went on to win the bronze medal in the men's doubles event at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin after competing in three previous Winter Olympic Games: in 1992 in the singles event and in doubles in 1998 and 2002. He went on to compete in a fifth Olympics in 2010: he retired soon afterwards after sustaining an injury in training in March of that year.
Noelle Pikus-Pace is an American retired skeleton racer who began her career in 2001. She won five medals at the FIBT World Championships, competed in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, and won the silver medal in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.
Susi-Lisa Erdmann is an East German-German luger and bobsledder who competed from 1977 to 1998 in luge, then since 1999 in bobsleigh. She was born in Blankenburg, Bezirk Magdeburg. Competing in five Winter Olympics, she won two medals in the women's singles luge event with a silver in 1994 and a bronze in 1992, and a bronze at the inaugural two-women bobsleigh event in 2002. She is one of only two people to ever win a medal in both bobsleigh and luge at the Winter Olympics; Italy's Gerda Weissensteiner is the other.
Barbara Niedernhuber is a German luger who competed from 1994 to 2006. She won two silver medals in the women's singles event at the Winter Olympics. A favorite to make the 2006 Winter Olympics, she was upset at the national championships by Tatjana Hüfner in late 2005.
Josef Feistmantl was an Austrian luger who competed from the mid-1950s to the early 1970s. He competed at three Olympic Games.
Brian Martin is an American luger who competed from 1990 to 2010. Competing in four Winter Olympics, he won two medals in the men's doubles event with a silver in 2002 and a bronze in 1998. He was born in Palo Alto, California.
David Möller is a German former luger who competed from 2001 to 2014. He won six medals at the FIL World Luge Championships with four golds, one silver, and one bronze
Kathryn "Katie" Uhlaender is an American skeleton racer who has competed since 2003. She has won six medals at the FIBT World Championships with two gold, one silver, and three bronze.
Maija Tīruma is a former Latvian luger who competed from 2000 to 2013. She won two bronze medals in the mixed team relay event at the FIL World Luge Championships. Tīruma also won a gold medal in the mixed team relay event at the 2008 FIL European Luge Championships in Cesana, Italy and finished seventh in the women's singles event at those same championships. Competing in three Winter Olympics, she earned her best finish of ninth in the women's singles event at Vancouver in 2010.
The Mt. Van Hoevenberg Olympic Bobsled Run is a venue for bobsleigh, luge and skeleton in the United States, located at the Lake Placid Olympic Sports Complex in Lake Placid, New York. This venue was used for the 1932 and 1980 Winter Olympics and for the only winter Goodwill Games in 2000. The track hosted both the first FIBT World Championships and FIL World Luge Championships held outside of Europe, doing so in 1949 and 1983. The third and most recent version of the track was completed in 2000. In 2010 the bobsled track was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Utah Olympic Park Track is a bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track in the United States, located in the Utah Olympic Park near Park City, Utah. During the 2002 Winter Olympics in nearby Salt Lake City, the track hosted the bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton events. Today the track still serves as a training center for Olympic and development level athletes and hosts numerous local and international competitions. It is one of two national tracks; the other is at Mt. Van Hoevenberg near Lake Placid, New York.
The Sigulda Bobsleigh and Luge Track is located in Sigulda, Latvia, built in 1986. Currently, the track manager is Dainis Dukurs, former bobsleigh brakeman and the father of skeleton racers Martins and Tomass Dukurs.
Bengt Otto Walden is a retired Swedish-born, American luger who has competed since 1985, internationally since 1988, when he joined the Swedish national team. He married American luger Ashley Hayden in 2006, and joined the United States national team in 2007. He switched his citizenship from Sweden to the United States in 2009 in order to be able to compete as an American at the 2010 Olympics. Walden retired from competition after the 2010-11 season. Subsequently, he was appointed as coach of the Norwegian national luge team.