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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.
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.
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.
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.
Alexander Resch is a German former luger who competed from 1998 to 2010. Together with Patric Leitner, 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 their last race at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, they won bronze.
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.
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.
Thomas Schwab is a West German luger who competed in the late 1980s. Together with Wolfgang Staudinger he won the bronze medal in the men's doubles event at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, representing West Germany.
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. At the 1984 Winter Olympics, Hildgartner carried the Italian flag during the opening ceremonies.
Josef Feistmantl was an Austrian luger who competed from the mid-1950s to the early 1970s. He competed at three Olympic Games.
Steffen Wöller is a German luger who competed from 1991 to 2004. He won five medals at the FIL World Luge Championships with one gold, three silvers, and one bronze.
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.
Patrick Gruber 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.
Dan Joye is a Venezuelan-born American luger who has competed since 1995. Competing in two Winter Olympics, he earned his best finish of sixth in the men's doubles event at Vancouver in 2010.
Christopher Moffat is a Canadian luger who has competed since 2000. Competing in three Winter Olympics, he earned his best finish of fifth in the men's doubles event at Salt Lake City in 2002.
Dmitriy Vladimirovich Khamkin is a Russian luger who has competed since 2002. He competed in the men's doubles event at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, but crashed during the first run and did not finish.
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.
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.
References
- "2006 luge men's doubles results". todor66.com.
Oleg Zherebetskyy
- "Zherebetskyy, Oleg". FIL-Luge.org. Archived from the original on 2012-02-17.
- "Twisting track an Olympic nightmare for lugers". USA Today. February 16, 2006.
Oleg Zherebetskyy
