Markus Prock (born 22 June 1964) is an

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

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 competed between 1983 and 2002. Born in

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; ) is the capital of Tyrol (federal state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the Wipptal, Wipp Valley, which provides access to the ...

, Prock competed in six

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 ...

winning three medals in the men's singles event with two silvers (

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

) and one bronze (

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

). Prock grew up in the village of Mieders in the Stubaital. His parents managed a petrol station and a

pension A pension (; ) is a fund into which amounts are paid regularly during an individual's working career, and from which periodic payments are made to support the person's retirement from work. A pension may be either a " defined benefit plan", wh ...

. He competed in several sports in his youth, ski racing, playing football and sprinting, achieving personal bests of 22.8s for the 200m and 50.9s for the 400m whilst in high school. He took up luge after racing in a competition for teenagers held at

Igls Innsbruck (; ) is the capital of Tyrol (federal state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the Wipptal, Wipp Valley, which provides access to the ...

. Prock was known for his rivalry with Georg Hackl, with Prock being dominant in World Cup competition whilst Hackl consistently achieved success at the Winter Olympics. Prock was noted for his athleticism and his powerful start. 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 ...

, Prock won 13 medals, including five gold (Men's singles:

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

; Mixed team: 1996,

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

), four silvers (Men's singles: 1990, 1997; Mixed team:

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

), and four bronzes (Men's singles:

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

; Mixed team: 1995,

). Prock won ten medals 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 Federa ...

with five in men's singles (gold:

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

; silver: 1988, 1990) and five medals in the mixed team event (silver:

; bronze: 1994, 1998, 2002). He also won the overall

Luge World Cup The Luge World Cup season is a yearly competition first organized by the International Luge Federation since 1977–78. The World Cup is the highest level season-long competition in the sport. Men's singles ;Medals: ;World Cup Stages medals ( ...

ten times in men's singles (198788, 199091, 199192, 199293, 199394, 199495, 199596, 199697, 199899, 200102). After retiring from competition, Prock was appointed as sporting director of the Austrian Luge Federation in 2002. He left this role in November 2018, when he was elected as the Federation's president, receiving 88 percent of the vote in the Federation's national conference in Semmering, Austria. He is the father of luger Hannah Prock. He also manages his nephew, Gregor Schlierenzauer, who was second in the 200607

Ski jumping World Cup The FIS Ski Jumping World Cup is the world's highest level of ski jumping and the FIS Ski Flying World Cup as the subdivisional part of the competition. It was founded by Torbjørn Yggeseth for the 1979/80 season and organized by the Internati ...

entering the

FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2007 The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2007 took place 22 February – 4 March 2007 in Sapporo, Japan. It was the second time this city has hosted these championships, having previously done so in the 1972 Winter Olympics. Sapporo was selected ...

Sapporo is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in Hokkaido, Japan. Located in the southwest of Hokkaido, it lies within the alluvial fan of the Toyohira River, a tributary of the Ishikari River. Sapporo is the capital ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. Schlierenzauer won a gold in the team large hill at those championships.

References

1984 luge men's singles results2007 Luge World Championships interview.FIL-Luge profile
*
Hickoksports.com results on Olympic champions in luge and skeleton.Hickok sports information on World champions in luge and skeleton.

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Prock, Markus 1964 births Living people Austrian male lugers Lugers from Innsbruck Lugers at the 1984 Winter Olympics 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 Olympic lugers for Austria Olympic silver medalists for Austria Olympic bronze medalists for Austria Olympic medalists in luge Medalists at the 2002 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1994 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1992 Winter Olympics Recipients of the Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria 20th-century Austrian sportsmen