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.
Andreas Linger is an Austrian former luger who competed internationally since 2000. He and his younger brother Wolfgang began luging at a very young age, and did their first doubles run when they were 14. Linger has won five medals at the FIL World Luge Championships with three golds and two bronzes. He also earned seven medals at the FIL European Luge Championships with a gold, three silvers, and three bronzes. The Lingers were overall Luge World Cup men's doubles champions in 2011-12 and scored 15 World Cup race victories. They were two time Olympic champions in the men's doubles event at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy and the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. They won in 2006 despite Wolfgang having broken his leg in a luge crash the previous year. In 2010, they successfully defended their gold medal against another team of brothers, Andris and Juris Šics of Latvia.
Wolfgang Linger is an Austrian former luger who competed internationally since 2000. As young children, he and his older brother Andreas learned to luge on a former Olympic luge track, and at age 14 began competing as a doubles team for the first time. Linger has won five medals at the FIL World Luge Championships with three golds and two bronzes. He also earned seven medals at the FIL European Luge Championships with a gold, three silvers, and three bronzes. The Lingers were overall Luge World Cup men's doubles champions in 2011-12 and scored 15 World Cup race victories. In 2005, he broke his leg in a crash, but the next year at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy won the gold medal in doubles luge. He repeated this feat at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada, defeating another team of brothers, Andris and Juris Šics of Latvia.
Patric-Fritz Leitner is a German former 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. They also competed at the 2006 Winter Olympics, finishing sixth. At the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, they won bronze in their last race.
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. Widely regarded as one of the greatest lugers of all time, she is a nine-time World champion and six-time Olympic champion.
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.
Tobias Arlt is a German luger, 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.
Tobias Wendl is a German luger who has competed since 1993, acting as a front. He won a silver medal in the men's doubles event at the 2008 FIL World Luge Championships in Oberhof, Germany, a silver and a bronze at the FIL European Luge Championships 2010 in Sigulda, a gold at the FIL World Luge Championships 2013, and two gold medals at his debut Winter Olympics at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. He is also a Master Sergeant in the German Army.
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.
David Gleirscher is an Austrian luger. He competed for Austria in the 2015–16 Luge World Cup in the men's singles and finished tenth in the points standings. In men's luge at the 2018 Winter Olympics he became a surprise champion after the favorite, Felix Loch, made a mistake in the last run and dropped out of the medals. Before the Olympic win, Gleirscher did not have a single World Cup podium appearance.
The doubles luge at the 2018 Winter Olympics was held on 14 February 2018 at the Alpensia Sliding Centre near Pyeongchang, South Korea. Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt, the defending champions, repeated their 2014 success and won gold medals. Peter Penz and Georg Fischler became second, and Toni Eggert third Sascha Benecken. Wendl and Arlt were also first in both runs, Penz and Fischler second in both runs, and Eggert and Benecken third in both runs. For Penz, Fischler, Eggert, and Benecken these were their first Olympic medals. The 2014 bronze medalists, Andris Šics and Juris Šics, were ninth in the first run and fourth in the second run, which was only sufficient for the fifth place overall.
Anna Berreiter is a German luger. She is the 2023 World and European Champion and silver medallist at the 2022 Winter Olympics. A two-time Under-23 World Champion, Berreiter was also part of the German squad that took the World team relay title in 2023 and has won further 1 silver and 1 bronze medals in sprint discipline at the World Championships level. She is the youngest woman to win a Luge World Cup race, and so far, has won 4 individual races in her World Cup career.
The men's singles competition in luge at the 2022 Winter Olympics was held on 5 February and 6 February, at the Xiaohaituo Bobsleigh and Luge Track in Yanqing District. Johannes Ludwig of Germany won the event. For him this was the first individual Olympic gold medal. Wolfgang Kindl of Austria won the silver, and Dominik Fischnaller of Italy bronze. For Kindl and Fischnaller, these were their first Olympic medals.
The team relay competition in luge at the 2022 Winter Olympics was held on 10 February, at the Xiaohaituo Bobsleigh and Luge Track in Yanqing District. The event was won by Natalie Geisenberger, Johannes Ludwig, Tobias Wendl / Tobias Arlt. All these athletes previously won gold in their corresponding events. In particular, for Geisenberger this was the sixth gold Olympic medal, more than any other luger ever won. Austria, with Madeleine Egle, Wolfgang Kindl, and Thomas Steu / Lorenz Koller, won silver, and Latvia, with Elīza Tīruma, Kristers Aparjods, and Mārtiņš Bots / Roberts Plūme, bronze.
