View source for Andreas Linger

{{Short description|Austrian luger (born 1981)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2023}}
{{MedalTableTop
| image = Andreas Linger - Team Austria Winter Olympics 2014 (cropped).jpg
| image_size = 220px
| caption = Linger in 2014
| medals =
{{MedalSport | Men's [[luge]] }}
{{MedalCountry | {{AUT}} }}
{{MedalCompetition | [[Olympic Games]] }}
{{MedalGold | [[2006 Winter Olympics|2006 Turin]] | [[Luge at the 2006 Winter Olympics – Doubles|Men's doubles]] }}
{{MedalGold | [[2010 Winter Olympics|2010 Vancouver]] | [[Luge at the 2010 Winter Olympics – Doubles|Men's doubles]] }}
{{MedalSilver | [[2014 Winter Olympics|2014 Sochi]] | [[Luge at the 2014 Winter Olympics – Doubles|Men's doubles]] }}
{{MedalCompetition | [[FIL World Luge Championships|World Championships]] }}
{{MedalGold | [[FIL World Luge Championships 2003|2003 Sigulda]] | Men's doubles }}
{{MedalGold | [[FIL World Luge Championships 2011|2011 Cesana]] | Men's doubles }}
{{MedalGold | [[FIL World Luge Championships 2012|2012 Altenberg]] | Men's doubles }}
{{MedalBronze | [[FIL World Luge Championships 2003|2003 Sigulda]] | Mixed team }}
{{MedalBronze | [[FIL World Luge Championships 2013|2013 Whistler]] | Men's doubles }}
{{MedalCompetition | [[List of Luge World Cup champions|World Cup Championships]] }}
{{MedalGold | [[2011–12 Luge World Cup|2011–12]] | Men's doubles }}
{{MedalSilver | [[2010–11 Luge World Cup|2010–11]] | Men's doubles }}
{{MedalBronze | 2004–05|Men's doubles }}
{{MedalBronze | [[2007–08 Luge World Cup|2007–08]] | Men's doubles }}
{{MedalBronze | [[2008–09 Luge World Cup|2008–09]] | Men's doubles }}
{{MedalCompetition | [[FIL European Luge Championships|European Championships]] }}
{{MedalGold | [[FIL European Luge Championships 2010|2010 Sigulda]] | Men's doubles }}
{{MedalSilver | [[FIL European Luge Championships 2008|2008 Cesana]] | Men's doubles }}
{{MedalSilver | [[FIL European Luge Championships 2008|2008 Cesana]] | Mixed team }}
{{MedalSilver | [[FIL European Luge Championships 2010|2010 Sigulda]] | Mixed team }}
{{MedalBronze | [[FIL European Luge Championships 2004|2004 Oberhof]] | Men's doubles }}
{{MedalBronze | [[FIL European Luge Championships 2004|2004 Oberhof]] | Mixed team }}
{{MedalBronze | [[FIL European Luge Championships 2014|2014 Sigulda]] | Men's doubles }}
}}

'''Andreas Linger''' (born 31 May 1981 in [[Hall in Tirol]]) is an Austrian former [[luge]]r who competed internationally since 2000. He and his younger brother [[Wolfgang Linger|Wolfgang]] began luging at a very young age, and did their first doubles run when they were 14. Linger has won five medals at the [[FIL World Luge Championships]] with three golds (Men's doubles: [[FIL World Luge Championships 2003|2003]], [[FIL World Luge Championships 2011|2011]] and [[FIL World Luge Championships 2012|2012]]) and two bronzes (Mixed team: 2003 and men's doubles: [[FIL World Luge Championships 2013|2013]]). He also earned seven medals at the [[FIL European Luge Championships]] with a gold (Men's doubles: [[FIL European Luge Championships 2010|2010]]), three silvers (Men's doubles: [[FIL European Luge Championships 2008|2008]], Mixed team: 2008, 2010), and three bronzes (Men's doubles: [[FIL European Luge Championships 2004|2004]] and 2014, Mixed team: 2004). The Lingers were overall [[List of Luge World Cup champions|Luge World Cup]] men's doubles champions in [[2011–12 Luge World Cup|2011-12]] and scored 15 World Cup race victories.<ref name=retired /> They were two time Olympic champions in the men's doubles event at the [[2006 Winter Olympics]] in [[Turin]], [[Italy]] and the [[2010 Winter Olympics]] in [[Vancouver|Vancouver, British Columbia]], [[Canada]]. They won in 2006 despite Wolfgang having broken his leg in a luge crash the previous year. In 2010, they successfully defended their gold medal against another team of brothers, [[Andris Šics|Andris]] and [[Juris Šics]] of [[Latvia]].<ref name="afp" />

==Athletic career==

===Introduction to luge===
Andreas competed in a number of sports as a child, including skiing and soccer. He was ten years old when he tried an artificial Iuge track for the first time, on a [[Igls bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track|track]] that had been used for Olympic events in 1964 and 1976. His brother was one of the few other members of their local luge club who tried it. Even at that young age, Andreas did not think of Iuge as being a particularly dangerous sport. Five years later, when they were both 14, they were allowed to try doubles Iuge for the first time. Despite competing as individuals or in mixed doubles in some events, the Wolfgang and Andreas have seen their most significant success as a doubles team.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Andreas Linger – Biography |work=Vancouver 2010 |publisher=NBC |url=http://www.nbcolympics.com/athletes/athlete=2137/bio/index.html |access-date=18 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100131180408/http://www.nbcolympics.com/athletes/athlete%3D2137/bio/index.html |archive-date=31 January 2010 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===2002–2004===
The Linger brothers placed 8th in the [[2002 Winter Olympics]] in [[Salt Lake City]], [[Utah]].<ref name="nyt2006" /> Their runs were relatively consistent, at 43.330 seconds and 43.354 seconds, but they would still trail their countrymen [[Tobias Schiegl|Tobias]] and [[Markus Schiegl]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Official Report of the 2002 Winter Olympics, Volume 3 |publisher=International Olympic Committee |date=2002 |pages=156 |url=http://www.la84foundation.org/6oic/OfficialReports/2002/SLC2002Results3.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120220084643/http://www.la84foundation.org/6oic/OfficialReports/2002/SLC2002Results3.pdf |archive-date=20 February 2012 }}</ref> By the following, season, however, the Lingers challenged the Schiegls as the best doubles luge team in Austria, beating the latter at the inaugural Krombacher Challenge Cup and setting a course record there.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Zwei österreichische Siege bei Challenge-Cup-Auftakt |newspaper=News.at |language=de |date=13 December 2002 |url=http://www.news.at/articles/0250/20/47040/zwei-siege-challenge-cup-auftakt |access-date=18 February 2010}}</ref>

===2006 Winter Olympics===
Linger's brother Wolfgang was injured when he and his brother crashed in an Olympic test run in 2005, breaking the ankle and [[fibula]] in Wolfgang's left leg. Only a year after the crash, Linger and his brother competed in their second Winter Olympics, the [[2006 Winter Olympics|2006 Games]] in [[Turin]], [[Italy]]. The doubles competition there saw crashes by three different teams, one of which resulted in a Ukrainian competitor being taken to a hospital in an ambulance. As a result, the event was described in the media as being 'plagued' by crashes. The Lingers managed to win the gold medal, defeating defending 2002 champions [[André Florschütz]] and [[Torsten Wustlich]] of [[Germany]].<ref name="nyt2006">{{Cite news |title=Luge: Austrian brothers win accident-plagued doubles luge |newspaper=New York Times |date=15 February 2006 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/15/sports/15iht-olyluge.html |access-date=18 February 2010}}</ref>

===2010 Winter Olympics===
The Linger brothers entered the [[2010 Winter Olympics]] in [[Vancouver|Vancouver, British Columbia]], [[Canada]] defending their 2006 gold medal and as strong favorites to be medal contenders. Controversy surrounded the luge competitions at the 2010 Games following the death of [[Georgia (country)|Georgian]] luger [[Nodar Kumaritashvili]] in a crash during a training run prior to the opening of the Games. After Kumaritashvili's death, changes were made in the ice profile of the turn where he crashed, padding was added to support columns like the one he hit, and the start of the doubles competition was moved up to what had previously been the junior start. This meant that competitors only had six training runs on the altered course in which to develop an entirely new strategy for their runs. After the first run, the Linger brothers led their closest competitors, brothers [[Andris Šics|Andris]] and [[Juris Šics]] of [[Latvia]], by a razor-thin margin of .088 seconds. However, they expanded their lead in the second run, winning the gold medal by a cumulative .264 seconds. Their victory prevented the German team at the Games from sweeping all three luge medals, as German competitors had previously won both the men's and women's singles events.<ref name="afp">{{Cite news |title=Luge: Linger brothers retain luge doubles crown |newspaper=Agence France-Presse |publisher=Vancouver 2010 |date=17 February 2010 |url=http://www.vancouver2010.com/olympic-news/n/news/afp-news/luge--linger-brothers-retain-luge-doubles-crown_282880wT.html |access-date=18 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100218220812/http://www.vancouver2010.com/olympic-news/n/news/afp-news/luge--linger-brothers-retain-luge-doubles-crown_282880wT.html |archive-date=18 February 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref> Linger told reporters after the victory that it had been more difficult than the medal in Turin four years earlier, given the pressure of being defending champions and the favorite to win.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Linger/Linger wiederholen ihren Olympiasieg von Turin und holen Österreichs 1.Goldmedaille in Vancouver |newspaper=Austrian Olympic Committee |language=de |date=16 February 2010 |url=http://www.olympia.at/main.asp?kat1=70&kat2=482&kat3=&NID=881 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120905011442/http://www.olympia.at/main.asp?kat1=70&kat2=482&kat3=&NID=881 |url-status=dead |archive-date=5 September 2012 |access-date=17 February 2010 }}</ref>

===2014 Winter Olympics===
The Linger brothers were unable to make it a hat-trick of golds at the [[2014 Winter Olympics]] in [[Sochi]], finishing second to the German duo of [[Tobias Wendl]] and [[Tobias Arlt]], whose lead of .522 seconds over the Lingers was the largest winning margin in the history of the Olympic doubles competition. However the silver medal made them the second most successful pairing in Olympic doubles luge, behind [[Stefan Krauße]] and [[Jan Behrendt]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fil-luge.org/News-Detail.335.0.html?&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=26011&cHash=43d4284793fd3634affbc24459818250 |title=Wendl-Arlt dethrone Linger-Linger |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=12 February 2014 |website=[[International Luge Federation]] |access-date=29 November 2014}}</ref> Less than six weeks later the Linger brothers announced their retirement from the sport.<ref name=retired>{{cite web |url=https://sports.yahoo.com/news/linger-brothers-retire-missing-3rd-163656869--spt.html |title=Linger brothers retire after missing 3rd luge gold |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=30 March 2014 |website=[[Yahoo! Sports]] |access-date=29 November 2014}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Linger lives in [[Absam]], [[Austria]], and serves in the Austrian army.<ref name="factbox">{{Cite news |last=Maidment |first=Neil |title=Gold medallists Andreas & Wolfgang Linger |newspaper=Reuters |publisher=Yahoo! Sports |date=17 February 2010 |url=https://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/vancouver/luge/news?slug=reu-lugelinger_factbox&prov=reuters&type=lgns |access-date=18 February 2010}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}
* {{Cite web |url=http://www.fil-luge.org/filext/athlet/erfolge_en.asp?p_id=100080 |title=FIL-Luge profile |access-date=31 October 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140227030744/http://www.fil-luge.org/filext/athlet/erfolge_en.asp?p_id=100080 |archive-date=27 February 2014 |url-status=bot: unknown  }}
* {{Cite web |url=http://www.hickoksports.com/history/olluge.shtml |title=Hickoksports.com results on Olympic champions in luge and skeleton. |access-date=14 June 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081231015551/http://www.hickoksports.com/history/olluge.shtml |archive-date=31 December 2008 |url-status=dead }}
* {{Cite web |url=http://www.hickoksports.com/history/worldluge.shtml |title=Hickok sports information on World champions in luge and skeleton. |access-date=5 July 2007 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121204165409/http://www.hickoksports.com/history/worldluge.shtml |archive-date=4 December 2012 |url-status=dead }}
* {{Cite web |url=http://sports123.com/lug/mwc-d.html |title=List of men's doubles luge World Cup champions since 1978. |access-date=3 April 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080206094147/http://sports123.com/lug/mwc-d.html |archive-date=6 February 2008 |url-status=dead }}

==External links==
* {{FIL|andreas-linger|Andreas Linger|archive=20190826021315}}
* {{Olympedia}}
* {{Olympics.com|a-linger-andreas-linger}}
* {{Team Austria|andreas-linger/2377}}
* {{Official website|http://www.linger-linger.at/}} {{in lang|en|de}}

{{Footer Olympic Champions Luge Men's Doubles}}
{{Footer World Champions Luge Men's Doubles}}
{{Footer European Champions Luge Men's Doubles}}
{{Footer World Cup Champions Luge Men's Doubles}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Linger, Andreas}}
[[Category:1981 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Austrian male lugers]]
[[Category:Lugers at the 2002 Winter Olympics]]
[[Category:Lugers at the 2006 Winter Olympics]]
[[Category:Lugers at the 2010 Winter Olympics]]
[[Category:Lugers at the 2014 Winter Olympics]]
[[Category:Olympic lugers for Austria]]
[[Category:Olympic gold medalists for Austria]]
[[Category:Olympic silver medalists for Austria]]
[[Category:Olympic medalists in luge]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 2010 Winter Olympics]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 2006 Winter Olympics]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 2014 Winter Olympics]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Hall in Tirol]]
[[Category:Lugers from Tyrol (federal state)]]