Berchtesgaden (RWH) Sepp Lenz, long-standing national coach to the German luge team, will be celebrating his 80th birthday on February 8. The man who has often been described as the “Goldsmith of Königssee” was in office for 29 long years from 1966 to 1995. Under his charge the German lugers, both West and East, won a total of 31 gold, 31 silver and 34 bronze medals at the Olympic Games, and World and European Championships. His protégés included Josef Fendt, who won two World Championships as well as a silver medal at the 1976 Winter Olympics, and then went on to head the International Luge Federation (FIL) as its president since 1994. Also among his charges were Hans Stanggassinger and Franz Wembacher, who collected gold in the doubles at the 1984 Winter Games, and of course Georg “Schorsch” Hackl, three-time Olympic Champion in the men’s singles. Lenz’s knowledge as a coach and sled builder is still impressive today, as is his warmth and heartfelt sympathy towards others. The legendary coach also earned himself a shining reputation as a track expert when, together with his father Lorenz, he built the first luge track on the banks of Lake Königssee, the forerunner to the artificial ice track that followed. His advice has been welcomed on the construction of many an Olympic track. Lenz, who won the 1962 European Championships and came fourth in two World Championships in the course of his active career, had to retire after a crash during training shortly before the 1964 Olympics. And in December 1993 he lost his left leg below the knee after an accident on the Winterberg ice track. One hundred days later he was once again standing at the track for the 1994 Olympic Winter Games in Lillehammer, Norway.