Georg Hackl (often named: Hackl Schorsch, ; born 9 September 1966) is a German former

luge A luge is a small one- or two-person sled on which one sleds supine (face up) and feet-first. A luger steers by using the calf muscles to flex the sled's runners or by exerting opposite shoulder pressure to the seat. Racing sleds weigh for ...

r who was three time Olympic and World Champion. He is known affectionately as ''Hackl-Schorsch'' or as the ''Speeding

Weißwurst A Weisswurst (German ''Weißwurst'' , literally ''white sausage''; bar, Weißwuascht) is a traditional Bavarian sausage made from minced veal and pork back bacon. It is usually flavored with parsley, lemon, mace, onions, ginger and cardamom, ...

'' a reference to what he looks like in his white bodysuit coming down the luge at fast speeds.

Biography

Hackl was born in

Berchtesgaden Berchtesgaden () is a municipality in the district Berchtesgadener Land, Bavaria, in southeastern Germany, near the border with Austria, south of Salzburg and southeast of Munich. It lies in the Berchtesgaden Alps, south of Berchtesgaden; th ...

, Bavaria. He took up luge as part of his

physical education Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explorat ...

lessons whilst at school, learning to slide at the Königssee track. Hackl was known for his rivalry with

Markus Prock Markus Prock (born 22 June 1964) is an Austrian luger who competed between 1983 and 2002. Born in Innsbruck, Prock competed in six Winter Olympics winning three medals in the men's singles event with two silvers (1992, 1994) and one bronze (2002) ...

, 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. He won his first Winter Olympic Games

medal in 1988 in

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, maki ...

, 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 Vera Zozulya (russian: Вера Васильевна Зозуля, lv, Vera Zozuļa; born 15 January 1956 in Talsi, Latvian SSR) is a Soviet luger who competed during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Competing in two Winter Olympics, she won th ...

of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

did that feat in the women's singles event at the

1980 Winter Olympics The 1980 Winter Olympics, officially the XIII Olympic Winter Games and also known as Lake Placid 1980, were an international multi-sport event held from February 13 to 24, 1980, in Lake Placid, New York, United States. Lake Placid was elected ...

in Lake Placid, New York). That year he was named as German Sportsman of the Year. 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 The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially the XX Olympic Winter Games ( it, XX Giochi olimpici invernali) and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February 2006 in Turin, Italy. This marked the second ...

. 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 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 with twelve golds (Men's singles ...

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 champion. Career She became Olympic Champion in the women's single ...

Tobias Wendl Tobias Wendl (born 16 June 1987) is a German luger 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, a silver and a bronze at the FIL ...

and

Tobias Arlt Tobias Arlt (born 2 June 1987) is a German luger who has competed since 1991, 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 ...

, who between them took a clean sweep of the gold medals in

luge at the 2014 Winter Olympics Luge at the 2014 Winter Olympics was held at the Sliding Center Sanki near Krasnaya Polyana, Russia. The four events were scheduled for 8–13 February 2014. In April 2011 the International Olympic Committee approved the addition of the mixed te ...

. Hackl won a total of 22 medals at the

FIL World Luge Championships The FIL World Luge Championships, part of the International Luge Federation (FIL) have taken place on an almost annual basis in non-Winter Olympics years since 1955. These championships are shown for artificial tracks. See FIL World Luge Natural ...

, including ten golds (Men's singles:

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicis ...

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

; Mixed team:

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefu ...

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanist ...

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A ...

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; " Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discover ...

), ten silvers (Men's singles: 1991, 1993, 1995,

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 800, causing the plane to crash and killing everyone o ...

, 2001,

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight ...

, 2005; Men's doubles:

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...

, Mixed team: 1996, 1997), and two bronzes (Men's singles: 2000, Mixed team:

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

). At the

FIL European Luge Championships The FIL European Luge Championships, part of the International Luge Federation (FIL) have taken place since 1914. From 1914 to 1934, these championships were part of the Internationaler Schlittensportsverband (ISSV - International Sled Sport Federat ...

, Hackl won twelve medals. This included seven golds (Men's singles:

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...

; Mixed team: 1988,

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment building in Amsterdam after two of its engin ...

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

), four silvers (Men's singles:

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nels ...

, 2000; Mixed team: 1990, 1994), and one bronze (Men's singles: 1992). He won the overall

Luge World Cup The Luge World Cup season is a yearly competition first organized by the International Luge Federation The International Luge Federation ( French: Fédération Internationale de Luge de Course (FIL); German: Internationaler Rennrodelverband) i ...

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 Wok racing is a sport developed by the German TV host and entertainer Stefan Raab in which modified woks are used to make timed runs down an Olympic bobsleigh track. There are competitions for and , the latter using four woks per sled. History ...

world champion. He was inducted into the

International Luge Federation The International Luge Federation ( French: Fédération Internationale de Luge de Course (FIL); German: Internationaler Rennrodelverband) is the main international federation for all luge sports. Founded by 13 nations at Davos, Switzerland in ...

's Hall of Fame in 2013. In 1999, Hackl married his long-term girlfriend, Margit (née Datzmann).

References

* * * *
IOC profile
* *

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hackl, Georg 1966 births Living people German male lugers German sports coaches Olympic lugers of Germany Olympic gold medalists for Germany Olympic silver medalists for Germany Olympic silver medalists for West Germany Olympic medalists in luge Lugers at the 1988 Winter Olympics Lugers at the 1992 Winter Olympics Lugers at the 1994 Winter Olympics Lugers at the 1998 Winter Olympics Lugers at the 2002 Winter Olympics Lugers at the 2006 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1988 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1992 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1994 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1998 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2002 Winter Olympics People from Berchtesgaden Sportspeople from Upper Bavaria 20th-century German people 21st-century German people

Biography

See also

References

External links