German luge legend Georg Hackl joins Austrian team

Berchtesgaden (FIL) Following the appointment of Christian Eigentler as new head coach, the Austrian Luge Federation (ÖRV) now officially announced a prominent addition to the coaching staff in the form of Georg Hackl. 

The expertise of the 55-year-old from Berchtesgaden, who has been a member of the coaching team of the German Federation (BSD) since 2006, is to be integrated above all in questions of material. The cooperation with the three-time Olympic Champion and ten-time World Champion, who won a total of 38 medals at major events in his career and was inducted into the Hall of Fame of German sport in 2020, runs until 2026.
 
The coup was made possible by ÖRV President Markus Prock, who was able to bring his former competitor to Austria. Prock was convinced of the development of the ÖRV team: "We have done many things right in the past decade and have developed into a reliable medal supplier at major events. The continuing successes motivate us to do even better, in the medium term we want to overtake the luge superpower Germany and become the number one in the ice track. This requires a lot of heart and passion as well as new impulses. The appointment of Christian Eigentler as the new head coach was a first important step, and with the signing of Georg Hackl, another dream has come true. I have been in constant contact with "Schorsch", and now that the opportunity has arisen to bring him to Austria, we have taken it. I am very happy, but also proud, that he has chosen us. Peter Penz has done an excellent job in the material area in the past years. We are absolutely happy with him, but wanted to spread the responsibility over several shoulders, as we have done recently, and are convinced that we have achieved a perfect solution."
 

German head coach Norbert Loch said about the change of the best-known coach in his coaching staff: "It is always a loss when a team member of my team is no longer working for us. But I think that we are a very grown and over the years very successful team, which is very well positioned in all team parts. With Robert Eschrich and Christian Thurner, we have two outstanding technicians with very good expertise, especially at the top level. Together with our technology partners BMW and FES, they have played a very big part in our team's successes in recent years." 

photos: ÖRV, Ebermann and FIL, Dengler