Irene Zechner

Irene Zechner
nation	Austria
birthday	1969
place of birth	Fohnsdorf , Austria
Career
discipline	Single seater
society	TVN Fohnsdorf
status	resigned
End of career	1996
Medal table
World championships 1 × 2 × 1 × European championships 2 × 1 × 2 × Junior European Championship 2 × 0 × 1 ×
Natural Track Luge World Championships silver Casies 1990 Single seater bronze Bad Goisern 1992 Single seater silver Casies 1994 Single seater gold Oberperfuss 1996 Single seater  European Natural Track Luge Championships bronze Jesenice 1987 Single seater bronze Garmisch-Partenk. 1989 Single seater silver Fiè allo Sciliar 1991 Single seater gold Stein an der Enns 1993 Single seater gold Kandalaksha 1995 Single seater  Natural track toboggan junior European Championship gold Oberperfuss 1985 Single seater bronze Feld am See 1986 Single seater gold Kreuth 1987 Single seater
Placements in the Natural Track Luge World Cup
Debut in the World Cup December 13, 1992  World Cup victories 9  Overall World Cup ES 1. ( 1993/1994 , 1995/1996 )
Podium placements 1. 2. 3.  Single seater 9 6th 2

Irene Zechner (* 1969 in Fohnsdorf as Irene Koch ) is a former Austrian natural track tobogganist . With two European championship titles , one world championship title , two victories in the overall world cup and nine world cup races she was one of the most successful natural track tobogganers of the 1990s.

Career

The Styrian Irene Koch , who started for TVN Fohnsdorf , achieved her first international successes in junior competitions in the mid-1980s. In 1985 and 1987 she was junior European champion , in 1986 she won the bronze medal.

At the same time she was already taking part in title fights in the general class and quickly made contact with the world's best. At the 1986 World Championships in Fénis she was just fourth behind the medal ranks, but the next year she reached third place at the 1987 European Championships in Jesenice . After the 1988 World Cup was canceled due to the weather, she also won the bronze medal at the 1989 European Championship in Garmisch-Partenkirchen . Irene Koch achieved second place at the 1990 World Championships in Gsies (behind Jeanette Koppensteiner ) and the 1991 European Championships in Fiè allo Sciliar (behind Doris Haselrieder ). At the 1992 World Championships in Bad Goisern , she won a bronze medal again in third place.

After her marriage, she started under her new surname Zechner from the 1992/1993 season. This winter the World Cup was held for the first time and Irene Zechner reached a podium in two of the five races, which brought her fourth place in the overall World Cup for the 1992/1993 season. She celebrated her greatest success to date on January 31, 1993 when she became European Champion in Stein an der Enns . In the 1993/1994 season , Zechner was the dominant luge in the World Cup. While she was second behind the Italian Beatrix Mahlknecht in the first race , she won all four other World Cup races this winter and thus the overall World Cup. At the 1994 World Cup , held in Gsies at the end of January , she had to admit defeat to Italian Mahlknecht for a second time, and Zechner came second.

In winter 1994/1995 the Tyrolean Elvira Holzknecht was the dominant figure in the World Cup. She won all four races, while Zechner came second three times and third once, finishing second behind Holzknecht in the overall World Cup. At the 1995 European Championships in Kandalakscha , Russia , Holzknecht only came third, and Zechner was European champion for the second time ahead of local hero Lyubow Panjutina .

Elvira Holzknecht also won the first World Cup race of the 1995/1996 season, but Irene Zechner won the next four races. At the final in Stange , both of them were on the top step of the winners' podium at the same time, with which Irene Zechner won the overall World Cup for the second time. The Styrian was also victorious at the 1996 World Cup in Oberperfuss . After she was already twice European champion and had already won three medals at world championships, Zechner led an Austrian triple victory at her last major event and became world champion. After this very successful season, Irene Zechner ended her career. In recognition of her achievements, she was awarded the Silver Medal of Honor for Services to the Republic of Austria .

Sporting successes

World championships

• Fénis-Aosta 1986 : 4th single seater
• Casies 1990 : 2nd single seater
• Bad Goisern 1992 : 3rd single seater
• Casies 1994 : 2nd single seater
• Oberperfuss 1996 : 1st single seater

European championships

• Szczyrk 1985 : 7th single seater
• Jesenice 1987 : 3rd single seater
• Garmisch-Partenkirchen 1989 : 3rd single-seater
• Völs am Schlern 1991 : 2nd single seater
• Stein an der Enns 1993 : 1st single-seater
• Kandalaksha 1995 : 1st single seater

Junior European Championships

• Hol 1984 : 6th single seater
• Oberperfuss 1985 : 1st single seater
• Feld am See 1986 : 3rd single seater
• Kreuth 1987 : 1st single seater

World cup

• 2 × overall World Cup victory in single-seater in the seasons 1993/1994 and 1995/1996
• 1 × 2nd overall place in the single-seater in the 1994/1995 season
• 17 podium places, including 9 wins:

date	place	country	discipline
January 23, 1994	Bad Goisern	Austria	Single seater
February 20, 1994	Szczyrk	Poland	Single seater
February 27, 1994	Moscow	Russia	Single seater
March 13, 1994	Welschnofen	Italy	Single seater
December 30, 1995	Rautavaara	Finland	Single seater
January 19, 1996	Landskron	Austria	Single seater
January 21, 1996	Landskron	Austria	Single seater
4th February 1996	Laces	Italy	Single seater
February 11, 1996 *	pole	Italy	Single seater

* at the same time as Elvira Holzknecht

Awards

• 1996: Silver Medal of Honor for Services to the Republic of Austria

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} Herbert Wurzer : 100 Years of the Styrian Toboggan Association . Graz 2004, pp. 49-50
2. ↑ ^{a b} List of all decorations awarded by the Federal President for services to the Republic of Austria from 1952 (PDF; 6.9 MB)