Lutz Kühnlenz (born 24 June 1965 in

Ilmenau Ilmenau () is a town in Thuringia, central Germany. It is the largest town within the Ilm district with a population of 38,600, while the district capital is Arnstadt. Ilmenau is located approximately south of Erfurt and north of Nuremberg w ...

) was an East 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 who competed in the mid-1980s. He won the silver medal in the men's doubles event at the 1985 FIL World Luge Championships. His sporting talent was recognized early and promoted in the Children and Youth Sports School (KJS) in Oberhof. Even as a teenager he specialized in luge on the doubles and at the age of 18 he and his partner, René Keller, were already vice European- and World Champions in the youth competitions. In 1982, the two became

GDR East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

champions in Oberwiesenthal, and in 1985 and 1986 they were runners-up in Oberhof. Kühnlenz's best overall finish in the

Luge World Cup The Luge World Cup season is a yearly competition first organized by the International Luge Federation since 1977–78. The World Cup is the highest level season-long competition in the sport. Men's singles *Medals: Women's singles *Med ...

was third in men's doubles in 1984-5. Biggest success was the silver medal at the World Championships 1985. In 1986 Kühnlenz married the luger Susanne Chitry. Shortly before the Olympics - although Kühnlenz and his partner still finished 6th at the 1987 World Championships in

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyrol (state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the ...

and successfully competed in the pre-Olympic tests for

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

in 1988 with a World Cup victory - the "performance mandate" of Kühnlenz was withdrawn, after his wife was surprisingly revoked from a trip into a "non-socialist country". Kühnlenz than was unable to continue his sporting career. In 1990 he received his diploma as a sports teacher from the German University for Physical Culture in Leipzig. After completing his sporting career, Lutz Kühnlenz and his wife founded a sauna company between

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits in ...

and Weimar, and he took some honorary positions; i.a. in the club board of the German Sauna Association. The couple has two sons.

Achievements

(selection) Juniors: * European Championship 1983 in Innsbruck: 2nd place * World Championship 1984 in Bludenz: 2nd place Seniors: * World Cup victories: ** Season 1983/84: Königssee ** 1984/85: Hammarstrand ** 1985/86 and 1986/87: Oberhof * World Championship 1985 Oberhof: 2nd place

Honors

Patriotic Order of Merit in Silver Neues Deutschland 15.10.1986, page 7

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kuhnlenz, Lutz Living people German male lugers 1965 births Sportspeople from Thuringia People from Ilmenau Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit in silver National People's Army sportspeople People from Bezirk Suhl East German male lugers