The FIL World Luge Championships 2011 took place 28–30 January 2011 in

Cesana Cesana Torinese (French ''Césanne'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located about west of Turin, on the border with France. Cesana is a popular winter ski resort, being connected ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

at the

Cesana Pariol Cesana Pariol was the venue for bobsleigh, luge and skeleton during the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. The track, built for the games, is located in Cesana. The venue holds approximately 7,130 spectators, of whom 3,624 are seated. Constru ...

bobsleigh Bobsleigh or bobsled is a team winter sport that involves making timed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sleigh. International bobsleigh competitions are governed by the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Feder ...

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 s ...

, and

skeleton A skeleton is the structural frame that supports the body of an animal. There are several types of skeletons, including the exoskeleton, which is the stable outer shell of an organism, the endoskeleton, which forms the support structure inside ...

track. A total of 19 countries competed.

Medalists

Men's singles

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

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 ...

is the defending

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

and

world champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

in this event. The event took place on 29 January at 15:00

CET CET or cet may refer to: Places * Cet, Albania * Cet, standard astronomical abbreviation for the constellation Cetus * Colchester Town railway station (National Rail code CET), in Colchester, England Arts, entertainment, and media * Comcast Ente ...

.Parcolimpicotorino.it schedule at Cesana for 2010-11, including the FIL World Luge Championships 2011.
Accessed 23 January 2011. Zöggeler came from 0.057 seconds down after the first run to defeat defending world champion Loch by 0.021 seconds. It was the Italian's sixth world championship overall, but his first since the 2005 championships in

Park City, Utah Park City is a city in Utah, United States. The vast majority is in Summit County, and it extends into Wasatch County. It is considered to be part of the Wasatch Back. The city is southeast of downtown Salt Lake City and from Salt Lake City' ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

where Zöggeler won his 2002 Olympic gold medal. 37 athletes from 18 countries competed.

Women's singles

Erin Hamlin Erin Mullady Hamlin (born 19 November 1986) is a four-time Olympian and the first female American luger to medal at any Winter Olympics, as well as the first American of either gender to medal in luge singles competition and the first non-Eur ...

of the

in the defending world champion while Germany's

Tatjana Hüfner Tatjana Hüfner (born 30 April 1983) is a German retired luger who has competed since 2003. Career She won the bronze medal in the women's singles at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin and the gold medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. ...

in the defending Olympic champion. The event took place on 29 January at 08:20 CET. 26 athletes from 13 countries competed. Hüfner rebounded from her disappointing finish at the 2009 championships with her third gold medal in this event. Defending champion Hamlin finished 14th. Geisenberger won her third straight silver in this event. Gough becomes the first Canadian woman to medal at the World Championships and the second Canadian overall after

Miroslav Zajonc Miroslav ("Miro") Zajonc or Zayonc (born June 10, 1960) is a Slovak-born luger who competed for Czechoslovakia, Canada and the United States. Competing for Canada, he won the gold medal in the men's singles event at the 1983 FIL World Luge Champ ...

's gold in the men's singles event at the 1983 championships.

Men's doubles

Italy's

Gerhard Plankensteiner Gerhard Plankensteiner (born 8 April 1971 in Sterzing, South Tyrol) is an Italian former luger who competed from 1986 to 2010. Together with Oswald Haselrieder he won the bronze medal in the men's doubles event at the 20 ...

and

Oswald Haselrieder Oswald Haselrieder OMRI (born 22 August 1971 in Völs am Schlern, South Tyrol) is an Italian former luger who competed internationally from 1988 to 2010. He achieved success at junior level, taking two bronze medals in singles and a gold in do ...

are the defending world champions.

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

Andreas Andreas ( el, Ἀνδρέας) is a name usually given to males in Austria, Greece, Cyprus, Denmark, Armenia, Estonia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Finland, Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of B ...

and

Wolfgang Linger Wolfgang Linger (born 4 November 1982 in Hall in Tirol) is an Austrian retired luger who has competed internationally since 2000. As young children, he and his older brother Andreas learned to luge on a former Olympic l ...

are the two-time defending Olympic champions. Plankensteiner and Haselrieder retired between the 2010 Winter Olympics and the start of the 2010-11 Luge World Cup. The first run of the event will take place on 29 January at 19:00 CET while the second run will take place at 09:00 CET the next day.

Mixed team relay

The German team of Loch,

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 sing ...

André Florschütz André Florschütz (born 6 August 1976 in Sonneberg) is a German luger who competed from 1993 to 2010. Together with Torsten Wustlich, he won the silver medal in the men's doubles event at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin. Florschütz also w ...

, and

Torsten Wustlich Torsten Wustlich (born 2 February 1977 in Annaberg-Buchholz, Saxony) is a German former luger who competed from 1998 to 2010. Together with André Florschütz, he won the silver medal in the men's doubles event at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Tu ...

were the defending world champions. The event was to have taken place on 30 January at 10:20 CET, but was cancelled due to technical problems. (30 January 2011 article accessed 30 January 2011.)

Medal table

References

* (30 June 2007 article updated 23 December 2009.)

External links

Official website.
{{Luge World Championships 2011 in Italian sport FIL World Luge Championships International sports competitions hosted by Italy Province of Turin 2011 in luge Luge in Italy