Georg Hackl

Georg Hackl (born 9 September 1966) 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.

Georg Hackl
Georg Hackl during competition at Oberhof, Germany in 2005.
Personal information
Nickname(s)Simon Hardt
NationalityGerman
Born (1966-09-09) 9 September 1966[1]
Berchtesgaden,[1] Bavaria,
 West Germany
Height1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)[2]
Weight79 kg (174 lb)[2]
Sport
Country Germany
Sport Luge
Event(s)Men's singles, Men's doubles
ClubRC Berchtesgaden[2]
Coached by Josef Lenz
Retired2006

Hackl was born in Berchtesgaden, Bavaria. He took up luge as part of his physical education lessons whilst at school, learning to slide at the Königssee track.[3]

Hackl was known for his rivalry with Markus Prock, with Prock being dominant in World Cup competition whilst Hackl consistently achieved success at the Winter Olympics. Although Hackl was not as natural an athlete as Prock, he was noted as being extremely skilled at setting up his sled to suit particular ice conditions on a given day. In addition his coach and former luger Thomas Schwab highlighted Hackl's mental strength as being key to his success.[3]

He won his first Winter Olympic Games luge medal in 1988 in Calgary, when he finished second in the singles event, while placing fourth in the doubles. Four years later, he improved his performance to win the gold, a feat he repeated in 1994 and 1998. In 1998, he won the gold by clocking the fastest time in all four runs, the first in Olympic history in the men's singles to do so (Vera Zozula of the Soviet Union did that feat in the women's singles event at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York). That year he was named as German Sportsman of the Year.[4] Hackl won the silver medal again in the 2002 Games, becoming the first Winter Olympian to win a medal in five consecutive Winter Olympics. Most recently, he placed 7th in the 2006 Winter Olympics.

Hackl has retired from active participation and got involved in coaching after the 2006 Winter Olympics. He is responsible for a group of German lugers nicknamed the "Sunshine Training Group", alongside Patric Leitner, with Hackl having responsibility for their sleds. Members of the group include Felix Loch, Natalie Geisenberger, Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt, who between them took a clean sweep of the gold medals in luge at the 2014 Winter Olympics.[5][6][7]

Hackl won a total of 22 medals at the FIL World Luge Championships, including ten golds (Men's singles: 1989, 1990, 1997; Mixed team: 1991, 1993, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005), ten silvers (Men's singles: 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996, 2001, 2004, 2005; Men's doubles: 1987, Mixed team: 1996, 1997), and two bronzes (Men's singles: 2000, Mixed team: 1999).

At the FIL European Luge Championships, Hackl won twelve medals. This included seven golds (Men's singles: 1988, 1990; Mixed team: 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2002), four silvers (Men's singles: 1994, 2000; Mixed team: 1990, 1994), and one bronze (Men's singles: 1992).

He won the overall Luge World Cup title in men's singles twice (1988–9, 1989–90) and also had his best overall finish of second in men's doubles twice (1986–7, 1987–8).

Hackl is also a nine-time wok racing world champion.

He was inducted into the International Luge Federation's Hall of Fame in 2013.[8]

In 1999, Hackl married his long-term girlfriend, Margit (née Datzmann).[4]

See also

References
  1. FIL-Luge profile Archived 12 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine, accessed 3 December 2010
  2. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Georg Hackl". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 29 January 2010. Retrieved 3 December 2010.
  3. Layden, Tim (9 February 1998). "Born To Luge Georg Hackl is a techno whiz, Markus Prock is a natural athlete. The Olympics have belonged to Hackl, the World Cup circuit to Prock. Now, the final act of one of the greatest, if most obscure, rivalries in sports is about to begin". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
  4. "Hackl rodelt ins Eheglück" [Hackl slides into marital bliss]. spiegel.de (in German). 16 May 1999. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  5. Palmer, Justin (11 February 2014). "Geisenberger wins gold but team discord evident". reuters.com. Retrieved 11 February 2014.
  6. Doyle, Amanda (18 July 2013). "Americans hoping to upset German's luge dynasty". NBC Olympics. Archived from the original on 2 March 2014. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
  7. Harder, Wolfgang (May 2014). "All four gold medals go to the "Sunshine Training Group"" (PDF). FIL Magazine. Vol. 1 no. 51. Berchtesgaden, Germany: International Luge Federation. p. 9. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
  8. "Georg Hackl: official induction to the "Hall of Fame"". International Luge Federation. 10 January 2013. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Jan Ullrich		 German Sportsman of the Year
1998		 Succeeded by
Martin Schmitt
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