Felix Loch (; born 24 July 1989) is a German

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 ...

r 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 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 T ...

with twelve golds (Men's singles:

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

; Men's sprint

: Mixed team event: 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016) and two silvers (Men's singles:

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

). Loch's men's singles win in 2008 made him the youngest

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, ...

ever at 18 years old. He is the youngest Olympic Gold Medalist in men's luge history. As of 2022, Loch is a triple Olympic gold medalist.

Career

At the 2008 FIL European Luge Championships 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 connect ...

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 ...

, he finished sixth in the men's singles event. Previously he had won the 2006 Junior World Championship held in

Altenberg, Germany Altenberg () is a town in the Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge district, in Saxony, Germany. Geography The town is situated in the Ore Mountains, 32 km south of Dresden, and 15 km northwest of Teplice, Czech Republic. The village of ...

. Loch is a member of the Club RC Berchtesgaden and currently lives at Schönau am Königssee though he was born in

Sonneberg Sonneberg in Thuringia, Germany, is the seat of the Sonneberg district. It is in the Franconian south of Thuringia, neighboring its Upper Franconian twin town Neustadt bei Coburg. Sonneberg became known as the "world toy city", and is home to ...

. During International Training Week at the

Whistler Sliding Centre The Whistler Sliding Centre (french: link=no, Centre des sports de glisse de Whistler) is a Canadian bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track located in Whistler, British Columbia, that is north of Vancouver. The centre is part of the Whistler Blackc ...

Whistler, British Columbia Whistler ( Lillooet/Ucwalmícwts: Cwitima, ; Squamish/Sḵwx̱wú7mesh: Sḵwiḵw, ) is a resort municipality in Squamish-Lillooet Regional District, British Columbia, Canada. It is located in the southern Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mounta ...

on 7–15 November 2008, Loch injured his shoulder during training.

Bob- und Schlittenverband für Deutschland German Bobsleigh, Luge, and Skeleton Federation (german: Bob- und Schlittenverband für Deutschland e.V., BSD) is the official federation for bobsleigh, luge and skeleton in Germany. It is the German representative both to the International Bobslei ...

(BSD) Sport Director Thomas Schwab stated that Loch would compete at the opening

Luge World Cup The Luge World Cup season is a yearly competition first organized by the International Luge Federation The International Luge Federation ( French: Fédération Internationale de Luge de Course (FIL); German: Internationaler Rennrodelverband) is ...

event at

Igls Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label=Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyrol and the fifth-largest city in Austria. On the River Inn, at its junction with the Wipp Valley, which provides access to the Brenner Pass to the south, it had a pop ...

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 ...

on 29–30 November 2008 to which Loch did. On 21 February 2009, during the 2008-09 Luge World Cup season finale at

, Felix Loch recorded the fastest registered speed in luge, . At the

2014 Winter Olympics , ''Zharkie. Zimnie. Tvoi'') , nations = 88 , events = 98 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , athletes = 2,873 , opening = 7 February 2014 , closing = 23 February 2014 , opened_by = President Vladimir Putin , cauldron = , stadium = Fisht Olympic ...

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Со́чи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg) is the largest resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi River, along the Black Sea in Southern Russia, with a population of 466,078 residents, up to 600,000 residents in ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

, Loch again won the gold medal in men's Singles, marking his second consecutive Olympic victory, and he was also in the German team which won gold in the inaugural team relay. At the

2018 Winter Olympics , nations = 93 , athletes = 2,922 (1,680 men and 1,242 women) , events = 102 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = , closing = , opened_by = President Moon Jae-in , cauldron = Kim Yun-a , stadium = Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium , winte ...

, in the men's singles competition, Loch was a heavy favorite and indeed was leading the field after three runs, but in the last run made a mistake that cost him a medal. He ended in the fifth position.

Luge results

Olympic Games

World Championships

*20 medals – (14 gold, 5 silver, 1 bronze)

World Cup

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Loch, Felix 1989 births Living people People from Sonneberg People from Bezirk Suhl German male lugers Sportspeople from Thuringia Olympic lugers for Germany Lugers at the 2010 Winter Olympics Lugers at the 2014 Winter Olympics Lugers at the 2018 Winter Olympics Lugers at the 2022 Winter Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Germany Olympic medalists in luge Medalists at the 2010 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2014 Winter Olympics Recipients of the Silver Laurel Leaf 21st-century German people