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.
Mārtiņš Rubenis is a retired Latvian luger who competed between 1998 and 2014. He won the bronze medal at the men's singles event at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, becoming the first Latvian to win a medal at the Winter Olympics and the only one fr He won his second bronze medal at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi in the Team Relay event. In total he competed in five Olympics.
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.
Cesana Pariol was the venue for bobsleigh, 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.
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.
Tatjana Hüfner is a German retired luger who has competed since 2003.
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.
Alex Gough is a retired Canadian luger who competed between 2002 and 2018. Gough is a two-time Olympic luge medalist winning bronze in the women's singles event and silver in the team relay at the 2018 Winter Olympics. She was the first Canadian to win a luge medal at the Olympics. Gough won a bronze medal in the women's singles event at the FIL World Luge Championships 2011 in Cesana, the first ever for a Canadian woman and only the second overall. Gough has won a total of six World Championship medals, two bronze in women's singles and a silver and three bronze in the mixed team relay events.
Anna Orlova is a retired Latvian luger who competed at six Winter Olympics between 1992 and 2010. She won the silver medal in the mixed team event at the 2003 FIL World Luge Championships in Sigulda, Latvia and finished fourth in the women's singles event at those same championships.
Sarah Podorieszach is a Canadian-Italian luger who has competed since 2001 and for Italy since 2005. She finished 11th in the women's singles event at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin.
Oleg Zherbetskyy is a Ukrainian luger who has competed since 2003. He competed in the men's doubles event at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin by completing the first run of the event, but not starting the second run to a severe crash at the end of the first run.
Courtney Zablocki is an American luger who competed on the World Cup luge circuit from 1997 to 2010 and competed in eight World Championships. Competing in two Winter Olympics, she earned her best finish of fourth place in the women's singles event at Turin in 2006, missing a medal placement by only .392 of a second.
Markéta Jeriová is a Czech luger who competed from 1998 to 2006. Competing in two Winter Olympics, she earned her best finish of 19th in the women's singles event at Salt Lake City in 2002.
The Whistler Sliding Centre is a Canadian bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track located in Whistler, British Columbia, that is 125 km (78 mi) north of Vancouver. The centre is part of the Whistler Blackcomb resort, which comprises two ski mountains separated by Fitzsimmons Creek. Located on the lowermost slope of the northern mountain, Whistler Sliding Centre hosted the bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton competitions for the 2010 Winter Olympics.
The luge competition events of the 2010 Winter Olympics were held between 13 and 17 February 2010 at the Whistler Sliding Centre in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada.
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.
For the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, a total of fifteen sports venues were used. Venue construction ran from 2002 to 2005. Cesana Pariol had to have turns 17 and 18 modified following the Luge World Cup in January 2005, but they were not cleared out until October 2005. Winds postponed the Nordic combined team event for a day. Many of the venues served as host for the Winter Universidade the following year.
