Helmut Ruetz

Helmut Ruetz
nation	Austria
birthday	1972
Career
discipline	Two-seater, single-seater
society	SV Sellrain
status	resigned
End of career	1999
Medal table
World championships 1 × 1 × 0 × European championships 3 × 0 × 0 ×
Natural Track Luge World Championships silver Oberperfuss 1996 Two-seater gold Rautavarra 1998 Two-seater  European Natural Track Luge Championships gold Kandalaksha 1995 Two-seater gold Moos in Passeier 1997 Two-seater gold Szczyrk 1999 Two-seater
Placements in the Natural Track Luge World Cup
Debut in the World Cup December 13, 1992  World Cup victories 15th  Overall World Cup ES 6. ( 1995/1996 )  Overall World Cup DS 1. ( 1994/1995 , 1995/1996 , 1997/1998 , 1998/1999 )
Podium placements 1. 2. 3.  Two-seater 15th 10 7th

Helmut Ruetz (* 1972 ) is a former Austrian natural track luge . Together with his brother Andreas , he formed the most successful two-seater couple of the 1990s. They became world champions once , European champions three times and won the overall World Cup four times with a total of 15 race wins . In addition, they were three times Austrian national champions.

Career

Helmut Ruetz achieved fourth place in the two-seater together with his brother Andi and 14th place in the single-seater at the European Junior Championships in 1990 and 1991 . In 1992 the brothers took part in a world championship for the first time and finished sixth in the doubles.

In the Natural Track Luge World Cup , which was held for the first time in 1992/1993 , Helmut Ruetz and his brother Andreas were among the best in the world from the start. They were able to win the first World Cup race on December 13, 1992 in Rautavaara and achieved third place in the overall standings with another two podium places in the 1992/1993 season. In the winter of 1993/1994 they did not win, but with a second and a third place they achieved third place in the overall classification, tied with the Italians Roland Niedermair and Hubert Burger . At the 1994 World Championships in Casies they were fifth in the doubles.

In the 1994/1995 season , Helmut and Andi Ruetz won the overall double-seater World Cup for the first time with two wins in Kreuth and Stein an der Enns as well as two second places. They were also very successful at the 1995 European Championships in Kandalaksha , where they won their first European Championship. In the single seater, Helmut Ruetz took 15th place. In 1995, they also became Austrian state champions in the doubles for the first time. They won this title two more times in 1997 and 1999.

In the winter of 1995/1996, the Ruetz brothers won five out of six World Cup races, which enabled them to repeat their overall World Cup victory with a clear margin. At the 1996 World Cup in Oberperfuss , however, they were relegated to second place by their compatriots Reinhard Beer and Herbert Kögl . Helmut Ruetz finished eleventh in the single-seater. This season, Helmut Ruetz also achieved sixth place in the overall single-seater World Cup. In the 1996/1997 season Helmut and Andreas Ruetz won a World Cup race in Obdach , finishing second three times and third twice. In the overall World Cup, they finished second behind the Beer / Kögl doubles, which celebrated three victories this season. They successfully defended their title at the 1997 European Championship in Moos in Passeier . Helmut Ruetz also took 16th place in the single-seater.

In the winter of 1997/1998 the duo Ruetz / Ruetz was able to claim the overall World Cup victory with two victories in Sölden and Oberperfuss and another three podium places. They celebrated the greatest success of their careers at the 1998 World Cup in Rautavaara, when they won the doubles championship ahead of the Italians Manfred Gräber and Hubert Burger and the Austrians Reinhard Beer and Herbert Kögl.

In the 1998/1999 season , the brothers were able to win the overall World Cup for the fourth time with four wins in Sölden, Bad Goisern , Canale d'Agordo and Aurach . No other two-seater pair has been able to achieve this number of overall victories to date. In addition, they were European champions for the third time in a row at the European Championships in Szczyrk in 1999 , something that no doubles had ever achieved before. It was only from 2004 to 2008 that the Russians Pavel Porschnew and Ivan Lazarev won the European Championship three times in a row.

After these successes, Andi Ruetz ended his sporting career in order to devote himself to his professional activity. Helmut Ruetz also withdrew from top-class sport.

Sporting successes

(Two-seater together with Andi Ruetz)

World championships

• Bad Goisern 1992 : 6th two-seater
• Casies 1994 : 5th two-seater
• Oberperfuss 1996 : 2nd two-seater, 11th single-seater
• Rautavaara 1998 : 1st doubles, 13th single

European championships

• Kandalakscha 1995 : 1st two-seater, 15th single-seater
• Moos in Passeier 1997 : 1st two-seater, 16th single-seater
• Szczyrk 1999 : 1st two-seater

Junior European Championships

• Železniki 1990 : 4th doubles, 14th single
• Kandalaksha 1991 : 4th doubles, 14th single

World cup

• 4 × overall World Cup victory in doubles in the seasons 1994/1995 , 1995/1996 , 1997/1998 and 1998/1999
• 1 × 2nd overall place in the two-seater in the 1996/1997 season
• 2 × 3rd place overall in the two-seater in the 1992/1993 and 1993/1994 seasons
• 32 podium places in World Cup races, including 15 victories:

date	place	country	discipline
December 13, 1992	Rautavaara	Finland	Two-seater
5th February 1995	Kreuth	Germany	Two-seater
February 12, 1995	Stein on the Enns	Austria	Two-seater
December 27, 1995	Rautavaara	Finland	Two-seater
December 30, 1995	Rautavaara	Finland	Two-seater
January 19, 1996	Landskron	Austria	Two-seater
January 21, 1996	Landskron	Austria	Two-seater
4th February 1996	Laces	Italy	Two-seater
February 9, 1997	shelter	Austria	Two-seater
November 23, 1997	Soelden	Austria	Two-seater
January 25, 1998	Oberperfuss	Austria	Two-seater
December 6, 1998	Soelden	Austria	Two-seater
January 17, 1999	Bad Goisern	Austria	Two-seater
January 24, 1999	Canale d'Agordo	Italy	Two-seater
February 5, 1999	Aurach	Austria	Two-seater

Austrian championships

• Austrian national champion in doubles 1995, 1997 and 1999

literature

• Harald Steyrer, Herbert Wurzer, Egon Theiner: 50 years FIL 1957 - 2007. The history of the International Luge Federation in three volumes . tape II . Egoth Verlag, Vienna 2007, ISBN 978-3-902480-46-0 , p. 285-397 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Tiroler Toboggan Association: Austrian state champion in natural track tobogganing from the state of Tyrol ( memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed on February 12, 2010 (PDF, 14kB)