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 (located at the women's singles/ men's doubles start house), then run down to the finish and tap on a relay marker to exchange from one slider on a team to the next (men's doubles to women's singles to men's singles) with the fastest time winning.
Cesana Pariol was the venue for bobsled, luge and skeleton during the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. The track, built for the games, is located in Cesana. The venue holds approximately 7,130 spectators, of whom 3,624 are seated.
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe. Located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia and the enclaved microstates San Marino and Vatican City. Italy covers an area of 301,340 km2 (116,350 sq mi) and has a largely temperate seasonal and Mediterranean climate. With around 61 million inhabitants, it is the fourth-most populous EU member state and the most populous country in Southern Europe.
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.
Central European Time (CET), used in most parts of Europe and a few North African countries, is a standard time which is 1 hour ahead of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). The time offset from UTC can be written as UTC+01:00. The same standard time, UTC+01:00, is also known as Middle European Time and under other names like Berlin Time, Warsaw Time and Romance Standard Time (RST), Paris Time or Rome Time.
80 competitors from 15 nations competed at these championships. This included ten relay teams which took place on the 13th.
January 13, 2008 at 8 AM CET (07:00 UTC)
Medal | Athlete | Time |
---|---|---|
Gold | 1:44.341 | |
Silver | + 0.341 | |
Bronze | + 0.403 | |
4th | + 0.428 | |
5th | + 0.474 | |
6th | + 0.509 | |
7th | + 0.556 | |
8th | + 0.806 | |
9th | + 0.808 | |
10th | + 0.876 |
This was Zöggeler's second European championship in this event and fifth straight medal at the championships.
January 12, 2008 at 9 AM CET (08:00 UTC)
Medal | Athlete | Time |
---|---|---|
Gold | 1:35.364 | |
Silver | +0.160 | |
Bronze | +0.167 | |
4th | + 0.176 | |
5th | + 0.320 | |
6th | + 0.412 | |
7th | + 0.735 | |
8th | + 0.779 | |
9th | + 1.019 | |
10th | + 1.037 |
Geisenberger won her first ever championship. The event was delayed one hour to heavy snowfall in the area. Hadler is the first non-German to medal in this event at the Winter Olympic, world, or European level since fellow Austrian Angelika Neuner won a bronze at the 1998 Winter Olympics.
The FIL World Luge Championships, part of the International Luge Federation (FIL) have taken place on an almost annual basis in non-Winter Olympics years since 1955. These championships are shown for artificial tracks. See FIL World Luge Natural Track Championships for all natural track events that have taken place since 1979.
Austria, officially the Republic of Austria, is a 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.
Angelika Neuner is an Austrian luger who competed from 1987 to 2002. Competing in four Winter Olympics, she won two medals in the women's singles event with a silver in 1992 and a bronze in 1998. Her younger sister, Doris, won the gold medal in the same event at Albertville in 1992.
January 12, 2008 at 3 PM CET (14:00 UTC)
Medal | Athlete | Time |
---|---|---|
Gold | 1:33.779 | |
Silver | +0.159 | |
Bronze | +0.183 | |
5th | +0.408 | |
6th | +0.591 | |
7th | +0.638 | |
8th | +0.896 | |
9th | +1.151 | |
10th | +1.174 |
The tie for the bronze was the first in a Winter Olympic, world championship, or European championship event since they started timing luge in the 1/1000ths of a second following the tie between Italy and East Germany in the men's doubles event at the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo. Oberstolz and Gruber won their first ever title, ending Leitner and Resch's four-time championships reign in this event.
Luge is a winter sport featured at the Winter Olympic Games where a competitor or two-person team rides a flat sled while lying supine and feet first. The sport is usually contested on a specially designed ice track that allows gravity to increase the sled's speed. The winner normally completes the route with the fastest overall time. It was first contested at the 1964 Winter Olympics, with both men's and women's events and a doubles event. Doubles is technically considered an open event since 1994, but only men have competed in it. German lugers have dominated the competition, winning 81 medals of 141 possible.
East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic, was a country that existed from 1949 to 1990, when the eastern portion of Germany was part of the Eastern Bloc during the Cold War. It described itself as a socialist "workers' and peasants' state", and the territory was administered and occupied by Soviet forces at the end of World War II — the Soviet Occupation Zone of the Potsdam Agreement, bounded on the east by the Oder–Neisse line. The Soviet zone surrounded West Berlin but did not include it; as a result, West Berlin remained outside the jurisdiction of the GDR.
Luge at the 1972 Winter Olympics consisted of three events at Sapporo Teine. The competition took place between February 4 and February 7, 1972.
January 13, 2008 at 12 PM CET (11:00 UTC)
Medal | Athlete | Time |
---|---|---|
Gold | 2:40.863 | |
Silver | + 0.008 | |
Bronze | + 0.050 |
For the first time since the event debuted at the 1988 championships, Germany did not medal, finishing fourth.
The FIL European Luge Championships 1988 took place in Königssee, West Germany for a record fifth time after hosting the event previously in 1967, 1972, 1973, and 1977. The mixed team event debuted at these championships with two runs from men's singles, two runs from women's singles, and one run from men's doubles.
Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | |
2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | |
3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
Totals (5 Nations) | 4 | 4 | 5 | 13 |
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 luger of Austrian descent 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.
Patric-Fritz Leitner is a German luger who competed from 1998 to 2010. Together with Alexander Resch he won the men's doubles event at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, United States. They also competed at the 2006 Winter Olympics, finishing sixth. At the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, they won bronze in their last race.
Paul Hildgartner is an Italian 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. At the 1984 Winter Olympics, Hildgartner carried the Italian flag during the opening ceremonies.
Walter Plaikner is an Italian former luger and coach of Austrian descent who competed in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He was a doubles specialist, and competed alongside Paul Hildgartner. They won the gold medal in the men's doubles event at the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo. Plaikner also competed at the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, where he finished 11th in the doubles after suffering from a severe bout of flu. He retired from competition after the Games.
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.
Anastasia Oberstolz-Antonova is a Soviet/Russian-born, Italian luger who has competed since the late 1990s and for Italy since 2003. She won two bronze medals in the mixed team event at the FIL World Luge Championships.
Christian Oberstolz is an Italian luger who has competed since 1997. He won seven medals at the FIL World Luge Championships with two silvers and five bronzes.
The FIL World Luge Championships 2011 took place 28–30 January 2011 in Cesana, Italy at the Cesana Pariol bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track. A total of 19 countries competed.
Natalie Geisenberger is a German luger.
Tobias Arlt is a German luger who has competed since 1991, acting as a backdriver. He won a silver medal in the men's doubles event at the 2008 FIL World Luge Championships, a silver and a bronze at the 2010 FIL European Luge Championships, a gold medal at the FIL World Luge Championships 2013, and two gold medals at his debut Olympics, the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.
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 a German luger who has competed since 1996. He won a bronze medal in the mixed team 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.
The 2009–10 Luge World Cup was a multi race tournament over a season for luge. The season started 17 November 2009 in Calgary, Canada and ended 31 January 2010 in Cesana, Italy. The World Cup was organised by the FIL and sponsored by Viessmann. This cup served as qualifiers up to 31 December 2009 for the 2010 Winter Olympics luge events in Vancouver.
The men's luge at the 2010 Winter Olympics took place on 13–14 February 2010 at the Whistler Sliding Centre in Whistler, British Columbia. Germany's Felix Loch was the two-time defending world champion and won the gold medal with the fastest time in each of the four runs. The test event that took place at the venue was won by Germany's David Möller, who would win the silver medal in this event. Italy's Armin Zöggeler was the two-time defending Olympic champion and won a bronze medal in this event. The last World Cup event prior to the 2010 games took place in Cesana, Italy on 30 January 2010 and was won by Zöggeler, who also won the overall World Cup title.
The women's luge at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada took place on 15–16 February at the Whistler Sliding Centre in Whistler, British Columbia. Germany's Sylke Otto was the two-time defending Olympic champion. Otto retired midway through the 2006-07 season in January 2007 to pregnancy and after suffering a crash at the track in Königssee, Germany. Erin Hamlin of the United States was the defending world champion. The test event that took place at the venue was won by Germany's Natalie Geisenberger. The last World Cup event prior to the 2010 games took place in Cesana, Italy on 31 January 2010 and was won by Geisenberger. Geisenberger's teammate Tatjana Hüfner, the defending Olympic bronze medalist, won the overall World Cup for 2009-10 season in women's singles.
The doubles luge event at the 2010 Winter Olympics was held on 17 February at the Whistler Sliding Centre in Whistler, British Columbia. Twenty teams participated. Austrian brothers Andreas and Wolfgang Linger, the defending Olympic and European champions,. won the gold medal. The silver medal was also won by a pair of brothers, Andris and Juris Šics of Latvia. Germans Patric Leitner and Alexander Resch clinched the bronze medal after edging out Italians Christian Oberstolz and Patrick Gruber, who were in third place after the first run.
The 2013–14 Luge World Cup was a multi race tournament over a season for luge organised by the FIL. The season started on 16 November 2013 in Lillehammer, Norway and ended on 26 January 2014 in Sigulda, Latvia. After the World Cup, the athletes moved for two weeks to Sochi for the Luge event in the XXII Olympic Winter Games.