Olympic champion Linger: “Everything will be turned upside down”
Innsbruck-Igls (pps) No less than five international top doubles teams have put their luges away for good after the end of the Olympic season. “Everything will be turned upside down,” commented Andreas Linger, 2006 and 2010 Olympic champion together with his brother Wolfgang, summing up the situation prior the upcoming luge season.
The following doubles have ended their active career: Tobias Schiegl-Markus Schiegl (Austria, 1996 and 1997 World champions), Gerhard Plankensteiner-Oswald Haselrieder (ITA / 2006 Olympic bronze medallists and 2009 World champions), Mark Grimmette-Brian Martin (USA – 2002 Olympic silver and 1998 Olympic bronze medallists), André Florschuetz-Torsten Wustlich (GER / 2006 Olympic silver medallists and World champions in 2001, 2005 and 2008) as well as Patric Leitner-Alexander Resch (GER / 2002 Olympic champions, 2010 Olympic bronze medallists and World champions in 1999, 2000, 2004 and 2007). All taken together these five doubles have collected a total of 44 medals (14 gold – 10 silver – 20 bronze) at Olympic Winter Games, World and European championships.
Given these surely far-reaching changes, the Linger brothers with two Olympic titles, a World championship title in 2003 as well as a European title in 2010 to their credit, will inevitable be counted among the top favourites at the upcoming 42nd FIL Luge World Championship at Cesana, Italy, at the end of January 2011 and in the Viessmann Luge World Cup. “We still haven’t been able to gain the overall World Cup victory – so this is still an issue for us”, explained Andreas Linger and added: “We won’t go about it at all costs. Such a success needs to be slowly built up over the first luge events.”
What is more, the luger from Tyrol does not underestimate his opponents. Andreas Linger: “We believe Oberstolz-Gruber of Italy to be very competitive. And, of course, we reckon with a strong performance of the two Sics brothers of Latvia, the current Olympic silver medallists.” Additionally, there are Tobias Wendl-Tobias Arlt (2008 World and 2010 European silver medallists) who, in a “(f)lying change” so to speak, will be trying to follow in the footsteps of Leitner-Resch and Florschuetz-Wustlich. “Despite two World Cup victories last winter Wendl-Arlt had faced such a strong competition on their own team that they failed to qualify for the Olympic Winter Games”, commented Andreas Linger, who believes that the competition within their own team will be great after the retirement of the Schiegl brothers. “Peter Penz-Georg Fischler suffered the same ‘fate’ as Wendl-Arlt, narrowly failed to qualify for the Olympic Games.”
