Natalie Geisenberger (; born 5 February 1988) 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. Widely regarded as one of the greatest lugers of all time, she is a nine-time World champion and six-time

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 ...

champion.

Career

She became Olympic Champion in the women's singles event and in the team relay 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 ...

and 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 ...

Pyeongchang Pyeongchang (; in full, ''Pyeongchang-gun'' ; ) is a county in the province of Gangwon-do, South Korea, located in the Taebaek Mountains region. It is home to several Buddhist temples, including Woljeongsa. It is about east southeast of Seou ...

and won a bronze medal in the women's singles event at the

2010 Winter Olympics )'' , nations = 82 , athletes = 2,626 , events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = February 12, 2010 , closing = February 28, 2010 , opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean , cauldron = Catriona Le May DoanNancy GreeneWayne Gretz ...

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

. She subsequently won another individual gold at the

2022 Winter Olympics The 2022 Winter Olympics (2022年冬季奥林匹克运动会), officially called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Beijing 2022 (2022), was an international winter multi-sport event held from 4 to 20 February 2022 in Beij ...

, becoming the only woman luger ever to win three individual Olympic gold medals. She is the most successful and decorated female Olympic luger, with five gold medals and one bronze. Geisenberger has won a total of seven gold, six silver, and one bronze medals at the

FIL European Luge Championships The FIL European Luge Championships, part of the International Luge Federation (FIL) have taken place since 1914. From 1914 to 1934, these championships were part of the Internationaler Schlittensportsverband (ISSV - International Sled Sport Federat ...

. She has also accrued sixteen 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 ...

, including nine gold, five silver, and two bronze. She is the most decorated and most successful female luger in championship history. After four consecutive seasons finishing second in the overall classification of the

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 ...

, she finally won her first title in the 2012–13 season after completing an outstanding scoreboard with six wins and three-second places. She has won a total of 7 world cups in singles and 3 in sprint, both of which are an all-time record in women's competitions. After missing the 2019–20 season because she was having a baby, Geisenberger resumed competing and won the 2020–21 Luge World Cup.

Personal life

At age six, her family moved to the city of

Miesbach Miesbach () is a town in Bavaria, Germany, and is the capital of the Miesbach district. The district is at an altitude of 697 metres above sea level. It covers an area of approximately 863.50 km² of alpine headlands and in 2017 had a popul ...

, where Gert Schabbehard of the local Club RRT Miesbach introduced her to the sport at age 10. After a very successful junior career in which she won 14 Junior World Cup competitions and three Junior World Championships, she was promoted to the senior German team. Her first senior competition was on 20 January 2007 at the

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 ...

World Cup, where she came in second. Geisenberger is currently a police officer within the

German Federal Police The Federal Police (''Bundespolizei'' or BPOL) is the national and principal federal law enforcement agency of the German Federal Government, being subordinate to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, Building and Community (''Bundesministerium ...

at the Sports School in

Bad Endorf Bad Endorf is a municipality in the district of Rosenheim in Bavaria in Germany. The relatively small town is located about 15 km outside of Rosenheim and is in close proximity to the Chiemsee lake and its larger shore towns, Prien, Gstad ...

. On 1 June 2018, she married Markus Scheer in Schliersee. In October 2019, she announced that she would not race in 2019–20 season due to pregnancy. She gave birth to her son Leo in May 2020. In July 2022, she announced that she was pregnant for a second time and subsequently would be missing 2022-23 season.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Geisenberger, Natalie 1988 births Living people Sportspeople from Munich German female lugers 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 bronze medalists for Germany Olympic lugers of Germany Olympic medalists in luge Medalists at the 2010 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2014 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2018 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2022 Winter Olympics 21st-century German women