Luge is one of the eight Olympic sports currently contested at the Winter Olympic Games.[1] It has been a constant presence in the Olympic program since its introduction at the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria,[2] in the form of three events: men's singles, women's singles, and doubles.[a] A mixed team relay event was contested for the first time at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.[4]

History

German luger Natalie Geisenberger is the overall medal leader in the sport, having collected a total of seven medals (six gold and one bronze) across the single and relay events. The most successful men are Tobias Arlt and Tobias Wendl who have won six gold medals together in the doubles and relay events. Italian Armin Zöggeler has won the most medals in the singles event with six total (two gold, one silver, and three bronze), during the six Winter Games in which he competed (1994–2014). German luger Georg Hackl was the first Olympian to receive a medal in five consecutive Olympics, from 1988 to 2002, including three consecutive gold medals.

Ortrun Enderlein, representing the United Team of Germany, was the first woman to win the singles event in 1964. She was on the verge of defending her title at the 1968 Grenoble Games, having the best overall time after all the runs, but was disqualified together with fellow countrywomen Anna-Maria Müller (2nd) and Angela Knösel (4th) when it was discovered that the runners in their sleds had been illegally heated before the runs.[5] Müller made up for this by taking the gold medal at the following Games, in Sapporo, Japan.

In 1972, two gold medals were awarded to an East German (Horst Hörnlein and Reinhard Bredow) and an Italian pair (Paul Hildgartner and Walter Plaikner), who finished with exactly the same time. To prevent similar situations in future Olympics, the Fédération Internationale de Luge de Course introduced timing equipment that measured accurately to one thousandth of a second, to replace the old equipment that measured in hundredths of a second.[6]

As of the 2022 Winter Olympics, 156 medals (53 gold, 51 silver, and 52 bronze, with two golds in the 1972 doubles event) have been awarded, representing 12 National Olympic Committees (NOC). German lugers—representing the United Team of Germany (1964), West Germany (1968–1988), East Germany (1968–1988), and Germany (1992–2018)—have dominated this sport, collecting a total of 81 medals. There were seven occasions when a single NOC filled the podium with its athletes and in all of them they were German. After 2018, Germany is the current medal-leading NOC in the sport with 37 medals (18 gold, 10 silver, and 9 bronze), followed by East Germany's 29 medals.

Medalists

Men's singles

Games Gold Silver Bronze
1964 Innsbruck
 Thomas Köhler
 United Team of Germany 		Klaus Bonsack
 United Team of Germany 		Hans Plenk
 United Team of Germany
1968 Grenoble
 Manfred Schmid
 Austria 		Thomas Köhler
 East Germany 		Klaus Bonsack
 East Germany
1972 Sapporo
 Wolfgang Scheidel
 East Germany 		Harald Ehrig
 East Germany 		Wolfram Fiedler
 East Germany
1976 Innsbruck
 Dettlef Günther
 East Germany 		Josef Fendt
 West Germany 		Hans Rinn
 East Germany
1980 Lake Placid
 Bernhard Glass
 East Germany 		Paul Hildgartner
 Italy 		Anton Winkler
 West Germany
1984 Sarajevo
 Paul Hildgartner
 Italy 		Sergey Danilin
 Soviet Union 		Valery Dudin
 Soviet Union
1988 Calgary
 Jens Müller
 East Germany 		Georg Hackl
 West Germany 		Yuri Kharchenko
 Soviet Union
1992 Albertville
 Georg Hackl
 Germany 		Markus Prock
 Austria 		Markus Schmidt
 Austria
1994 Lillehammer
 Georg Hackl
 Germany 		Markus Prock
 Austria 		Armin Zöggeler
 Italy
1998 Nagano
 Georg Hackl
 Germany 		Armin Zöggeler
 Italy 		Jens Müller
 Germany
2002 Salt Lake City
 Armin Zöggeler
 Italy 		Georg Hackl
 Germany 		Markus Prock
 Austria
2006 Turin
 Armin Zöggeler
 Italy 		Albert Demchenko
 Russia 		Mārtiņš Rubenis
 Latvia
2010 Vancouver
 Felix Loch
 Germany 		David Möller
 Germany 		Armin Zöggeler
 Italy
2014 Sochi
 Felix Loch
 Germany 		Albert Demchenko
 Russia 		Armin Zöggeler
 Italy
2018 Pyeongchang
 David Gleirscher
 Austria 		Chris Mazdzer
 United States 		Johannes Ludwig
 Germany
2022 Beijing
Johannes Ludwig
 Germany 		Wolfgang Kindl
 Austria 		Dominik Fischnaller
 Italy
2026 Milano Cortina
Max Langenhan
 Germany 		Jonas Müller
 Austria 		Dominik Fischnaller
 Italy
Medals
Rank Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total
1  Germany 7 2 2 11
2  East Germany 4 2 3 9
3  Italy 3 2 5 10
4  Austria 2 4 2 8
5  United Team of Germany 1 1 1 3
6  West Germany 0 2 1 3
7  Russia 0 2 0 2
8  Soviet Union 0 1 2 3
9  United States 0 1 0 1
10  Latvia 0 0 1 1
Total 10 nations 17 17 17 51

Women's singles

Games Gold Silver Bronze
1964 Innsbruck
 Ortrun Enderlein
 United Team of Germany 		Ilse Geisler
 United Team of Germany 		Helene Thurner
 Austria
1968 Grenoble
 Erica Lechner
 Italy 		Christina Schmuck
 West Germany 		Angelika Dünhaupt
 West Germany
1972 Sapporo
 Anna-Maria Müller
 East Germany 		Ute Rührold
 East Germany 		Margit Schumann
 East Germany
1976 Innsbruck
 Margit Schumann
 East Germany 		Ute Rührold
 East Germany 		Elisabeth Demleitner
 West Germany
1980 Lake Placid
 Vera Zozulya
 Soviet Union 		Melitta Sollmann
 East Germany 		Ingrīda Amantova
 Soviet Union
1984 Sarajevo
 Steffi Martin
 East Germany 		Bettina Schmidt
 East Germany 		Ute Weiss
 East Germany
1988 Calgary
 Steffi Walter
 East Germany 		Ute Oberhoffner
 East Germany 		Cerstin Schmidt
 East Germany
1992 Albertville
 Doris Neuner
 Austria 		Angelika Neuner
 Austria 		Susi Erdmann
 Germany
1994 Lillehammer
 Gerda Weissensteiner
 Italy 		Susi Erdmann
 Germany 		Andrea Tagwerker
 Austria
1998 Nagano
 Silke Kraushaar
 Germany 		Barbara Niedernhuber
 Germany 		Angelika Neuner
 Austria
2002 Salt Lake City
 Sylke Otto
 Germany 		Barbara Niedernhuber
 Germany 		Silke Kraushaar
 Germany
2006 Turin
 Sylke Otto
 Germany 		Silke Kraushaar
 Germany 		Tatjana Hüfner
 Germany
2010 Vancouver
 Tatjana Hüfner
 Germany 		Nina Reithmayer
 Austria 		Natalie Geisenberger
 Germany
2014 Sochi
 Natalie Geisenberger
 Germany 		Tatjana Hüfner
 Germany 		Erin Hamlin
 United States
2018 Pyeongchang
 Natalie Geisenberger
 Germany 		Dajana Eitberger
 Germany 		Alex Gough
 Canada
2022 Beijing
Natalie Geisenberger
 Germany 		Anna Berreiter
 Germany 		Tatiana Ivanova
 ROC
2026 Milan Cortina
Julia Taubitz
 Germany 		Elīna Ieva Bota
 Latvia 		Ashley Farquharson
 United States
Medals
Rank Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total
1  Germany 8 7 4 19
2  East Germany 4 5 3 12
3  Italy 2 0 0 2
4  Austria 1 2 3 6
5  United Team of Germany 1 1 0 2
6  Soviet Union 1 0 1 2
7  West Germany 0 1 2 3
8  United States 0 0 2 1
9  Canada 0 0 1 1
 Latvia 0 0 1 1
 ROC 0 0 1 1
Total 10 nations 17 17 17 51

Men’s doubles

Games Gold Silver Bronze
1964 Innsbruck
  Josef Feistmantl
and Manfred Stengl (AUT) 		 Reinhold Senn
and Helmut Thaler (AUT) 		 Walter Ausserdorfer
and Sigisfredo Mair (ITA)
1968 Grenoble
  Klaus Bonsack
and Thomas Köhler (GDR) 		 Manfred Schmid
and Ewald Walch (AUT) 		 Wolfgang Winkler
and Fritz Nachmann (FRG)
1972 Sapporo
  Horst Hörnlein
and Reinhard Bredow (GDR)
 Paul Hildgartner
and Walter Plaikner (ITA) 		None awarded  Klaus Bonsack
and Wolfram Fiedler (GDR)
1976 Innsbruck
  Hans Rinn
and Norbert Hahn (GDR) 		 Hans Brandner
and Balthasar Schwarm (FRG) 		 Rudolf Schmid
and Franz Schachner (AUT)
1980 Lake Placid
  Hans Rinn
and Norbert Hahn (GDR) 		 Peter Gschnitzer
and Karl Brunner (ITA) 		 Georg Fluckinger
and Karl Schrott (AUT)
1984 Sarajevo
  Hans Stangassinger
and Franz Wembacher (FRG) 		 Yevgeny Belousov
and Aleksandr Belyakov (URS) 		 Jörg Hoffmann
and Jochen Pietzsch (GDR)
1988 Calgary
  Jörg Hoffmann
and Jochen Pietzsch (GDR) 		 Stefan Krauße
and Jan Behrendt (GDR) 		 Thomas Schwab
and Wolfgang Staudinger (FRG)
1992 Albertville
  Stefan Krauße
and Jan Behrendt (GER) 		 Yves Mankel
and Thomas Rudolph (GER) 		 Hansjörg Raffl
and Norbert Huber (ITA)
1994 Lillehammer
  Kurt Brugger
and Wilfried Huber (ITA) 		 Hansjörg Raffl
and Norbert Huber (ITA) 		 Stefan Krauße
and Jan Behrendt (GER)
1998 Nagano
  Stefan Krauße
and Jan Behrendt (GER) 		 Chris Thorpe
and Gordon Sheer (USA) 		 Mark Grimmette
and Brian Martin (USA)
2002 Salt Lake City
  Patric Leitner
and Alexander Resch (GER) 		 Mark Grimmette
and Brian Martin (USA) 		 Chris Thorpe
and Clay Ives (USA)
2006 Turin
  Andreas Linger
and Wolfgang Linger (AUT) 		 André Florschütz
and Torsten Wustlich (GER) 		 Gerhard Plankensteiner
and Oswald Haselrieder (ITA)
2010 Vancouver
  Andreas Linger
and Wolfgang Linger (AUT) 		 Andris Šics
and Juris Šics (LAT) 		 Patric Leitner
and Alexander Resch (GER)
2014 Sochi
  Tobias Wendl
and Tobias Arlt (GER) 		 Andreas Linger
and Wolfgang Linger (AUT) 		 Andris Šics
and Juris Šics (LAT)
2018 Pyeongchang
  Tobias Wendl
and Tobias Arlt (GER) 		 Peter Penz
and Georg Fischler (AUT) 		 Sascha Benecken
and Toni Eggert (GER)
2022 Beijing
 Tobias Wendl
and Tobias Arlt (GER) 		 Sascha Benecken
and Toni Eggert (GER) 		 Thomas Steu
and Lorenz Koller (AUT)
2026 Milano Cortina
 Emanuel Rieder
and Simon Kainzwaldner (ITA) 		 Thomas Steu
and Wolfgang Kindl (AUT) 		 Tobias Wendl
and Tobias Arlt (GER)
Medals
Rank Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total
1  Germany 6 3 4 13
2  East Germany 5 1 2 8
3  Austria 3 5 3 11
4  Italy 3 2 3 8
5  West Germany 1 1 2 4
6  United States 0 2 2 4
7  Latvia 0 1 1 2
8  Soviet Union 0 1 0 1
Total 8 nations 17 15 16 48

Women’s doubles

Games Gold Silver Bronze
2026 Milano Cortina
 Andrea Vötter
Marion Oberhofer (ITA) 		 Dajana Eitberger
Magdalena Matschina (GER) 		 Selina Egle
Lara Kipp (AUT)
Medals
Rank Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total
1  Italy 1 0 0 1
2  Germany 0 1 0 1
3  Austria 0 0 1 1
Total 3 nations 1 1 1 3

Team relay

Games Gold Silver Bronze
2014 Sochi
  Germany
Natalie Geisenberger
Felix Loch
Tobias Wendl
Tobias Arlt 		 Russia
Tatiana Ivanova
Albert Demchenko
Alexander Denisyev
Vladislav Antonov 		 Latvia
Elīza Tīruma
Mārtiņš Rubenis
Andris Šics
Juris Šics
2018 Pyeongchang
  Germany
Natalie Geisenberger
Johannes Ludwig
Tobias Wendl
Tobias Arlt 		 Canada
Alex Gough
Samuel Edney
Tristan Walker
Justin Snith 		 Austria
Madeleine Egle
David Gleirscher
Peter Penz
Georg Fischler
2022 Beijing
 Germany
Natalie Geisenberger
Johannes Ludwig
Tobias Wendl
Tobias Arlt 		 Austria
Madeleine Egle
Wolfgang Kindl
Thomas Steu
Lorenz Koller 		 Latvia
Elīza Tīruma
Kristers Aparjods
Mārtiņš Bots
Roberts Plūme
2026 Milano Cortina
 Germany
Julia Taubitz
Tobias Wendl
Tobias Arlt
Max Langenhan
Dajana Eitberger
Magdalena Matschina 		 Austria
Lisa Schulte
Thomas Steu
Wolfgang Kindl
Jonas Müller
Selina Egle
Lara Kipp 		 Italy
Verena Hofer
Emanuel Rieder
Simon Kainzwaldner
Dominik Fischnaller
Andrea Vötter
Marion Oberhofer
Medals
Rank Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total
1  Germany 4 0 0 4
2  Austria 0 2 1 3
3  Canada 0 1 0 1
 Russia 0 1 0 1
5  Latvia 0 0 2 2
6  Italy 0 0 1 1
Total 6 nations 4 4 4 12

Statistics

Medal leaders

Athletes that have won at least two medals are listed below. Medalists are sorted first by the total number of medals, then successively by the number of gold, silver and bronze medals. If a tie is still verified, medalists are ordered chronologically by their first medal.

Men

Athlete NOC Olympics Gold Silver Bronze Total
Tobias Arlt  Germany 2014-2022 6 0 0 6
Tobias Wendl  Germany 2014-2022 6 0 0 6
Armin Zöggeler  Italy 1994–2014 2 1 3 6
Georg Hackl  West Germany
 Germany 		1988–2002 3 2 0 5
Johannes Ludwig  Germany 2018–2022 3 0 1 4
Stefan Krauße  East Germany
 Germany 		1988–1998 2 1 1 4
Jan Behrendt  East Germany
 Germany 		1988–1998 2 1 1 4
Klaus Bonsack  United Team of Germany 1964–1972 1 1 2 4
Felix Loch  Germany 2010–2014 3 0 0 3
Thomas Köhler  United Team of Germany 1964–1968 2 1 0 3
Paul Hildgartner  Italy 1972–1984 2 1 0 3
Andreas Linger  Austria 2006–2014 2 1 0 3
Wolfgang Linger  Austria 2006–2014 2 1 0 3
Albert Demchenko  Russia 2006–2014 0 3 0 3
Markus Prock  Austria 1992–2002 0 2 1 3
Andris Šics  Latvia 2010–2014 0 1 2 3
Juris Šics  Latvia 2010–2014 0 1 2 3
Hans Rinn  East Germany 1976–1980 2 0 0 2
Norbert Hahn  East Germany 1976–1980 2 0 0 2
Jörg Hoffmann  East Germany 1984–1988 1 0 1 2
Jochen Pietzsch  East Germany 1984–1988 1 0 1 2
Jens Müller  East Germany
 Germany 		1988–1998 1 0 1 2
Patric Leitner  Germany 2002–2010 1 0 1 2
Alexander Resch  Germany 2002–2010 1 0 1 2
David Gleirscher  Austria 2018 1 0 1 2
Hansjörg Raffl  Italy 1992–1994 0 1 1 2
Norbert Huber  Italy 1992–1994 0 1 1 2
Chris Thorpe  United States 1998–2002 0 1 1 2
Mark Grimmette  United States 1998–2002 0 1 1 2
Brian Martin  United States 1998–2002 0 1 1 2
Peter Penz  Austria 2018 0 1 1 2
Georg Fischler  Austria 2018 0 1 1 2
Mārtiņš Rubenis  Latvia 2006-2014 0 0 2 2

Women

Athlete NOC Olympics Gold Silver Bronze Total
Natalie Geisenberger  Germany 2010–2022 6 0 1 7
Silke Kraushaar  Germany 1998–2006 1 1 1 3
Tatjana Hüfner  Germany 2006–2014 1 1 1 3
Steffi Martin  East Germany 1984–1988 2 0 0 2
Sylke Otto  Germany 2002–2006 2 0 0 2
Margit Schumann  East Germany 1972–1976 1 0 1 2
Ute Rührold  East Germany 1972–1976 0 2 0 2
Barbara Niedernhuber  Germany 1998–2002 0 2 0 2
Susi Erdmann  Germany 1992–1994 0 1 1 2
Angelika Neuner  Austria 1992–1998 0 1 1 2
Alex Gough  Canada 2018 0 1 1 2

Medals per year

× NOC did not exist # Number of medals won by the NOC – NOC did not win any medals
NOC 1924–60 64 68 72 76 80 84 88 92 94 98 02 06 10 14 18 Total
 Austria   3 2 – 1 1 – – 4 2 1 1 1 2 1 3 22
 Canada   – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 2 2
 United Team of Germany   5 × × × × × × × × × × × × × × 5
 East Germany   × 3 8 5 3 4 6 × × × × × × × × 29
 West Germany   × 3 – 3 1 1 2 × × × × × × × × 10
 Germany   × × × × × × × 4 3 5 5 4 5 5 6 37
 Italy   1 1 1 – 2 1 – 1 4 1 1 2 1 1 – 17
 Latvia   × × × × × × × – – – – 1 1 2 – 4
 Russia   × × × × × × × × – – – 1 – 2 × 3
 Soviet Union   – – – – 2 3 1 × × × × × × × × 6
 United States   – – – – – – – – – 2 2 – – 1 1 5

Medal sweep events

These are events in which athletes from one NOC won all three medals.

Games Event NOC Gold Silver Bronze
1964 Innsbruck Men's Singles  United Team of Germany Thomas Köhler Klaus-Michael Bonsack Hans Plenk
1972 Sapporo Men's Singles *  East Germany Wolfgang Scheidel Harald Ehrig Wolfram Fiedler
Women's Singles Anna-Maria Müller Ute Rührold Margit Schumann
1984 Sarajevo Women's Singles Steffi Walter-Martin Bettina Schmidt Ute Oberhoffner-Weiß
1988 Calgary Women's Singles Steffi Walter-Martin Ute Oberhoffner-Weiß Cerstin Schmidt
2002 Salt Lake City Women's Singles  Germany Sylke Otto Barbara Niedernhuber Silke Kraushaar
2006 Turin Women's Singles Sylke Otto Silke Kraushaar Tatjana Hüfner

See also

Notes

  1. Technically, the doubles event is considered a mixed event, open for male, female and mixed duos, but since its debut it has been traditionally entered only by male pairs.[3]

References

Medalists
Citations
  1. "Luge Equipment and History". Olympic.org. International Olympic Committee. Archived from the original on 8 January 2010.
  2. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Luge at the 1964 Innsbruck Winter Games". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020.
  3. "International Luge Federation". Olympic.org. International Olympic Committee. Archived from the original on 8 April 2010.
  4. "Luge: About discipline". sochi2014.com. Organizing Committee of the XXII Olympic Winter Games and XI Paralympic Winter Games of 2014 in Sochi. Archived from the original on 12 February 2014.
  5. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Luge at the 1968 Grenoble Winter Games". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020.
  6. "Preview: Doubles luge". Canadian Luge Association. 16 February 2010. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011.