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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | 3 May 1969 Oslo, Norway |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Luge |
Harald Christopher Rolfsen (born 3 May 1969) is a Norwegian luger, born in Oslo. He competed at the 1992 and 1994 Winter Olympics. [1]
He won seven national titles in single luge, in 1994, 1995, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005. [2]
Harald Rolfsen was born on May 3, 1969 in Oslo. He began to actively engage in luge in early childhood, trained at the local sports club "Akephoreninge". He made his international debut at the age of seventeen, when he attended the Junior World Championships in Königssee, Germany, and took thirtieth place among single sleds. In 1988, he competed at the World Youth Championships in Valdaora, Italy, where he was twenty-first in singles and twelfth in doubles. Two years later, in singles, he finished twenty-ninth at the senior European Championships in Igls, Austria, and thirty-fourth at the World Championships in Calgary, Canada. A year later, he went to the World Championships in the German city of Winterberg, where he showed the twenty-second time on a single sled and the twenty-fourth time on a two-seater sled.
A luge is a small one- or two-person sled on which one sleds supine (face-up) and feet-first. A luger begins seated, propelling themselves initially from handles on either side of the start ramp, then steers by using the calf muscles to flex the sled's runners or by exerting opposite shoulder pressure to the pod. 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 that employs that sled and technique.
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.
Sledding, sledging or sleighing is a winter sport typically carried out in a prone or seated position on a vehicle generically known as a sled, a sledge (British), or a sleigh. It is the basis of three Olympic sports: luge, skeleton and bobsledding. When practised on sand, it is known as a form of sandboarding. In Russia sledges are used for maritime activities including fishing and commuting from island to island on ice.
Korketrekkeren is a tobogganing track and former bobsleigh and luge track in Oslo, Norway. The tobogganing track runs between Frognerseteren and Midtstuen and is operated as a public venue by the municipality. Return transport to the top of the hill is undertaken by riding the Oslo Metro's Holmenkollen Line. Tobogganing in the area started in the 1880s, with several roads being used during winter evenings. Auto racing took place in the hill in 1921 and the following year it saw its first luge tournament. The first major tournament was the FIL European Luge Championships 1937. Tobagganing also took place in the nearby Heftyebakken, but from 1950 Korketrekkeren became the sole tobogganing hill and Heftyebakken was used for cross-country skiing.
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.
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.
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.
Markus Prock is an Austrian luger who competed between 1983 and 2002. Born in Innsbruck, Prock competed in six Winter Olympics winning three medals in the men's singles event with two silvers and one bronze (2002).
The International Luge Federation (French: Fédération Internationale de Luge de Course(FIL); German: Internationaler Rennrodelverband) is the main international federation for all luge sports. Founded by 13 nations at Davos, Switzerland in 1957, it has members of 53 national luge associations as of 2009 and is based in Berchtesgaden, Germany. In reaction to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, in March 2022 the FIL banned all Russian athletes, coaches, and officials from its events, suspended all Russian officials appointed to its Commissions and Working Groups, and deemed Russia ineligible to host any of its events.
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.
Christina Schmuck is a West German luger who competed during the late 1960s and early 1970s. At the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble, she originally finished fifth in the women's singles event, but was awarded the silver medal upon the disqualifications of the East German team of Ortrun Enderlein, Anna-Maria Müller (second), and Angela Knösel (fourth) when the East Germans were discovered to have their runners being illegally heated.
Margit Schumann was an East German luger who competed during the 1970s and early 1980s and was the 1976 Olympic Champion and four-time World Champion. Competing in three Winter Olympics, she won two medals in the women's singles event, a gold in 1976 and a bronze in 1972.
Andrea Tagwerker is an Austrian luger who competed from the late 1980s to the early 1990s. Competing in four Winter Olympics, she won the bronze medal in the women's singles luge event at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer. Tagwerker was the last non-German to win a women's single event in luge in 1997 at the Luge World Cup, Winter Olympic, World Championship, or European Championship level.
Jana Bode is a German former luger who competed from the late 1980s to the late 1990s.
Martina Kocher is a Swiss former luger who competed between 1999 and 2018. She is Switzerland's most successful luger. She first slid on a luge at the age of nine at St. Moritz, after taking an interest in the sport when her father Heinz, a former bobsledder-turned-coach of bobsleigh and luge, took her along to a training course he was leading.
Lillehammer Olympic Bobsleigh and Luge Track is a bobsleigh, luge and skeleton track located at Hunderfossen in Fåberg, Norway, 15 kilometers (9 mi) north of the town center of Lillehammer. It was completed in 1992 for the 1994 Winter Olympics, where it hosted the bobsleigh events and luge events. It has since also hosted the FIBT World Championships 1995 in skeleton and the FIL World Luge Championships 1995, and hosted 2016 Winter Youth Olympics.
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.
Bethany Calcaterra-McMahon is an American former luger. She competed at the 1994 Winter Olympics and the 1998 Winter Olympics. Despite success at a junior and senior level, Calcaterra-McMahon is chiefly remembered for being in an on-track accident when she was 19, involving a coach from the German team.
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