Tobias Wendl (born 16 June 1987) is a German

luge A luge () is a small one- or two-person sled on which one sleds Supine position, 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 Ca ...

r 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 Oberhof is a town in the Schmalkalden-Meiningen Districts of Germany, district of Thuringia, Germany. Located in the Thuringian Forest mountain range, it is a winter sports center and destination spa, health resort. With 1,625 inhabitants (December ...

, a silver and a bronze at the

FIL European Luge Championships 2010 The FIL European Luge Championships 2010 took place 19 – 24 January 2010 in Sigulda, Latvia for the second time, hosting the event previously in 1996. Festivities The opening ceremonies took place on 22 January 2010 at 19:00 EET. Award c ...

Sigulda Sigulda (; ; Polish Zygwold) is a town in the Vidzeme region of Latvia, from the capital city Riga. Overview Sigulda is on a picturesque stretch of the primeval Gauja river valley. Because of the reddish Devonian sandstone which forms steep r ...

, a gold at the FIL World Luge Championships 2013, and two gold medals at his debut

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (), also known as the Winter Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were held i ...

at the

2014 Winter Olympics The 2014 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXII Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Sochi 2014 (), were an international winter multi-sport event that was held from 7 to 23 February 2014 in Sochi, Russia. Opening ro ...

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Сочи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg, from – ''seaside'') is the largest Resort town, resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi (river), Sochi River, along the Black Sea in the North Caucasus of Souther ...

. He is also a

Master Sergeant A master sergeant is the military rank for a senior non-commissioned officer in the armed forces of some countries. Israel Defense Forces The (abbreviated "", master sergeant) is a non-commissioned officer () rank in the Israel Defense Force ...

in the

German Army The German Army (, 'army') is the land component of the armed forces of Federal Republic of Germany, Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German together with the German Navy, ''Marine'' (G ...

Career

Wendl was born on 16 June 1987 in

Aachen Aachen is the List of cities in North Rhine-Westphalia by population, 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, 27th-largest city of Germany, with around 261,000 inhabitants. Aachen is locat ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. He began competing in the

in 1993; and became a part of the national team in 2005, luging as a front. At the 2008 FIL World Luge Championships in

, he won a silver medal; and at the

, Wendl won a silver medal in men's doubles and a bronze medal in the team relay events. He won a gold medal at the FIL World Luge Championships 2013, in Whistler,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. Wendl competes in the double with Tobias Arlt, and is the front. Their nickname when competing together is "The Bayern-Express" and "The Two Tobis". He competed at the 2024 FIL World Luge Championships and won a gold medal in the team relay and a bronze medal in the doubles event.

Olympics

Wendl won two gold medals at the

; in the luge double with Tobias Arlt, he won a gold in a time of 1 minute and 38:933 seconds at the Sanki Sliding track: this was half a second ahead of the second-placed

Andreas Linger Andreas Linger (born 31 May 1981 in Hall in Tirol) 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. Lin ...

and

Wolfgang Linger Wolfgang Linger (born 4 November 1982 in Hall in Tirol) 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 ...

of Austria; this winning margin was the biggest ever in Olympic luge doubles. In the pair's first run, they set a track record of 49.373 seconds. Wendl then won the team relay with

Felix Loch Felix Loch (; born 24 July 1989) 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, including twelve golds (Men's s ...

Natalie Geisenberger Natalie Geisenberger (; born 5 February 1988) 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 Games, Olympic champion. Career She became Olympic Champion in the ...

, and Tobias Arlt; finishing more than one full second ahead of the second-placed

Russian Federation Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

team, in a time of 2 minutes and 45.649 seconds.

Personal life

He is also a

in the

Luge results

All results are sourced from the International Luge Federation (FIL) and German Bobsleigh, Luge and Skeleton Federation (BSD).

World Championships

*21 medals – (10 gold, 6 silver, 5 bronze)

World Cup

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wendl, Tobias 1987 births German male lugers Living people Lugers at the 2014 Winter Olympics Lugers at the 2018 Winter Olympics Lugers at the 2022 Winter Olympics Olympic lugers for Germany Olympic gold medalists for Germany Olympic medalists in luge Medalists at the 2014 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2018 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2022 Winter Olympics Sportspeople from Aachen 21st-century German sportsmen