The FIL European Luge Championships 1976 took place in Hammarstrand, Sweden for the second time after previously hosted the championships in 1970. A record five countries won medals at these championships, breaking the previous record set in 1971 that was equalled in 1974.
Medal | Athlete | Time |
---|---|---|
Gold | Wolfram Fiedler (GDR) | |
Silver | Michael Gärdebäck (SWE) | |
Bronze | Hans-Heinrich Winkler (GDR) |
Medal | Athlete | Time |
---|---|---|
Gold | Vera Zozula (URS) | |
Silver | Agneta Lindskog (SWE) | |
Bronze | Halina Biegun (POL) |
Zozula is the first Soviet to win at the European championships.
Medal | Athlete | Time |
---|---|---|
Gold | East Germany (Bernd Dreyer, Roland Herdmann) | |
Silver | Norway (Asle Strand, Helge Svensen) | |
Bronze | Soviet Union (Dainis Bremse, Algars Kirkis) |
Norway earned its first medal at the championships since 1937.
Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | East Germany (GDR) | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
2 | Soviet Union (URS) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
3 | Sweden (SWE) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
4 | Norway (NOR) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
5 | Poland (POL) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Totals (5 entries) | 3 | 3 | 3 | 9 |
Sylke Otto is a German former luger who competed from 1991 to 2007. She was born in Karl-Marx-Stadt. Competing in three Winter Olympics, she won the gold medal in the women's singles event in 2002 and 2006.
Armin Zöggeler OMRI is a retired Italian luger and double Olympic champion. He is one of the most successful men in the sport, nicknamed Il Cannibale, for his notable series of victories, or The Iceblood Champion, for his always cold, rational approach to the races. Fellow luger Tucker West described Zöggeler as the sport's equivalent of Michael Jordan.
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.
Wilfried Huber is an Italian luger and coach who competed from 1985 to 2010. Together with Kurt Brugger, he won the men's doubles event at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer. He competed in both doubles and singles, but enjoyed his greatest success in doubles in partnership with Brugger. He made his debut in the Luge World Cup in 1986-87 season. He also took two medals at the World Junior Championships in Olang in 1988, a silver and a bronze. He competed in six Winter Olympics, in 1988, 1992, 1994, 1998, 2002 and 2006: he was aiming to compete at the 2010 Winter Olympics, however he was not selected by the Italian team's head coach Walter Plaikner, and retired at the end of the season.
The FIL European Luge Championships, part of the International Luge Federation (FIL) have taken place since 1914. From 1914 to 1934, these championships were part of the Internationaler Schlittensportsverband. From 1935 to 1956, the championships were held under the auspices of the Fédération Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganing. Since 1962, the event has been under the auspices of the FIL and has been held in even-numbered years since 1980. Since 2012, it is held annually within a preselected World Cup stages in the so-called race-in-race mode. The results of non-European athletes at these World Cup stages are not counted for European Championships standings.
Jens Müller is an East German-German luger who competed from 1985 to 2001. He won two medals at the Winter Olympics in men's singles with a gold at Calgary in 1988 and a bronze at Nagano in 1998.
The FIL European Luge Championships 1971 took place in Imst, Austria for the second time after having previously hosted the championships in 1956. A record four countries won medals at these championships.
Manfred Schmid is an Austrian former luger who competed from the mid-1960s to the late 1970s. Competing in four Winter Olympics, he won two medals at Grenoble in 1968 with a gold in the men's singles event and a silver in the men's doubles event.
Dettlef Günther is an East German former luger who competed from the mid-1970s to the early 1980s. He won the gold medal in the men's singles event at the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck. At the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York, Günther was favored to repeat after leading the first two runs, but crashed at the end of the third run causing him to lose three seconds and settling for fourth in the standings.
Josef Fendt is the immediate past president of the Fédération Internationale de Luge de Course (FIL), having served from 1994 to 2020. He was a West German-German luger who competed from the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s. Competing in two Winter Olympics, he won the silver medal in the men's singles event at Innsbruck in 1976.
Hans Rinn is an East German former luger who competed from the early 1970s to the early 1980s. He won three medals at the Winter Olympics, including two gold and one bronze.
Paul Hildgartner is an Italian former luger who competed from the early 1970s to the late 1980s. Competing in five Winter Olympics, he earned two gold medals and one silver medal for his efforts. Hildgartner was the flag bearer for Italy in the 1984 Winter Olympics and the 1988 Winter Olympics opening ceremonies.
Anton Winkler was a West German luger who competed during the late 1970s and early 1980s. He won the bronze medal in the men's singles event at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York.
Markus Schmidt is an Austrian luger who competed between 1987 and 1997. Competing in two Winter Olympics, he earned a bronze medal in the men's singles event at Albertville in 1992.
Fritz Nachmann is a West German former luger who competed during the 1950s and the 1960s. He was born in Kreuth. He won the bronze medal in the men's doubles event at the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble. Nachmann also won five medals at the FIL World Luge Championships with four medals in men's doubles and one medal in men's singles. He also won a silver medal in the men's singles event at the 1967 FIL European Luge Championships in Königssee, West Germany.
The FIL World Luge Championships 2008 took place January 21-27, 2008 at the bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track in Oberhof, Germany for the third time after having hosted the event in 1973 and 1985. The relay competition took the place of the team event that had been held at every world championship since 1989. This event had all of teams start at the same part of the track, then run down to the finish and tap on a relay marker to exchange from one slider on a team to the next with the fastest time winning.
The FIL European Luge Championships 2008 took place January 7-13, 2008 at the Cesana Pariol track in Cesana, Italy. The relay competition took the place of the team event that had been held at every European championship since 1988. This event had all teams start at the same part of the track, then run down to the finish and tap on a relay marker to exchange from one slider on a team to the next with the fastest time winning.
Felix Loch is a German luger and Olympic champion. He has been competing since 1995 and on the German national team since 2006. He has won fourteen medals at the FIL World Luge Championships with twelve golds and two silvers. Loch's men's singles win in 2008 made him the youngest world champion ever at 18 years old. He is the youngest Olympic Gold Medalist in men's luge history. As of 2022, Loch is a triple Olympic gold medalist.
The FIL European Luge Championships 2010 took place 19 – 24 January 2010 in Sigulda, Latvia for the second time, hosting the event previously in 1996.
Johannes Ludwig is an Olympic gold medal-winning German luger who has competed since 1996. He won a bronze medal in the Team relay event at the FIL European Luge Championships 2010 in Sigulda. At the 2018 Winter Olympics, held in Pyeongchang, South Korea, Ludwig won the bronze medal in the men's singles luge and the gold in the team relay luge, along with his teammates Natalie Geisenberger, Tobias Wendl, and Tobias Arlt. Then at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, he won the gold medal in the Men's singles race.