Olympic Winter Games 1964 / Luge

Luge at the 1964 Winter Olympics
information
venue	innsbruck
Competition venue	Igls Olympic bobsleigh run
Nations	12
Athletes	68 (51 , 17 )
date	January 30 to February 4, 1964
decisions	3
Grenoble 1968 →

With the IX. During the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck , three luge competitions were held. The venue was the Igls Olympic bobsleigh run in the Heiligwasserwiese area in the Igls district . Luge was on the Olympic program for the first time.

Balance sheet

Medal table

space	country				total
1	Germany	2	2	1	5
3	Austria	1	1	1	3
4th	Italy	-	-	1	1

Medalist

competitor	gold	silver	bronze
Single seater men	Thomas Koehler	Klaus-Michael Bonsack	Hans Plenk
Single seater women	Ortrun Enderlein	Ilse Geisler	Helene Thurner
Two-seater men	Josef Feistmantl , Manfred Stengl	Reinhold Senn , Helmut Thaler	Walter Außenendorfer , Siegfried Mair

preview

Austrian officials had contributed a lot to the internationalization of this sport, with Bert Isatitsch from Rottenmann having achieved acceptance into the Olympic program. The outstanding performance of the German starters, as well as their outstanding technique, were due to the fact that they were the only participants in the field who dove into the starting curve with both hands and managed to get the decisive tenths of a second out of here. The Poles were also considered to be co-favorites, but the team failed despite good preparation and a support staff that resembled the workforce of a car racing team.

After the European sledging championship had already been held for the first time on the Ještěd railway in Liberec in February 1914 (after that, however, there was an interruption until 1928) and since Oslo in 1955 world championships were held, this sport was now on the program for the first time at the Olympics. In the previous year, the elite had used so-called “mushroom sleds”, with which the runners could be set up for hard artificial ice rinks or soft natural slopes by means of an eccentric adjustment, but new constructions were expected in Innsbruck.

Heating up the runners or similar methods were still allowed (the Austrians applied hot oil), but it was announced that the committees would now prohibit this.

Results

(Running times in seconds, total times in minutes)

Single seater men

space	country	athlete	1st run	2nd run	3rd run	4th run	total
1	EUA	Thomas Koehler	51.27	51.53	51.50	52.47	3: 26.77
2	EUA	Klaus-Michael Bonsack	51.61	51.33	51.68	52.42	3: 27.04
3	EUA	Hans Plenk	52.12	52.25	52.31	53.47	3: 30.15
4th	NOR	Rolf Greger Strøm	52.60	52.81	52.62	53.18	3: 31.21
5	AUT	Josef Feistmantl	52.14	52.58	53.51	53.11	3: 31.34
6th	POLE	Mieczysław Pawełkiewicz	54.00	52.70	52.66	53.66	3: 33.02
7th	ITA	Carlo Prinoth	53.01	53.36	53.70	53.42	3: 33.49
8th	AUT	Franz Tiefenbacher	53.31	53.04	54.00	53.51	3: 33.86
9	AUT	Manfred Schmid	53.27	52.86	53.82	54.09	3: 34.04
10	TCH	Jan Hamřik	53.57	53.24	53.65	53.91	3: 34.37
16	ITA	Walter Außenendorfer	55.47	55.02	54.85	54.83	3: 40.17
18th	SUI	Emil Egli	55.01	56.24	54.80	55.51	3: 41.56
20th	SUI	Arnold Gartmann	55.17	55.27	55.74	55.97	3: 42.15
21st	AUT	Arnold Gartmann	52.32	63.85	53.43	53.37	3: 42.97
23	ITA	Giovanni Graber	56.44	61.66	54.80	55.50	3: 48.40
26th	SUI	Ulrich Jucker	63.81	55.92	57.41	58.10	3: 55.24
27	LIE	Hans Negele	59.65	64.56	60.65	61.43	4: 06.29
30th	LIE	Magnus Schädler	63.16	63.26	65.75	64.94	4: 17.11
31	SUI	Jean-Pierre Gottschall	63.05	64.82	61.85	82.36	4: 32.08

1st run: January 30, 1964; 2nd run: January 31, 1964;
3rd and 4th run: February 4th, 1964
Track length 1064 m

48 participants, including 31 in the rating. Retired u. a. Fritz Nachmann (EUA)

After the first floodlit run, which was attended by 6,000 visitors, the German triple tour was already given. Fritz Nachmann skidded in front of the Olympic curve and fell off the toboggan that reached the finish line without him. Roland Urban (TCH) had a similar experience , while Lucjan Kudzia (POL) lost the lead over his toboggan in the same place and hit the guardrail, but was able to stay on his vehicle and was stopped in ninth place. The Austrians obeyed the instruction to drive quickly but with caution in order to get through. The second run was also held in the evening under floodlights.

Josef Feistmantl and Lucjan Kudeia from Poland had bad luck . The timing of both had not worked in the third run, they had to start again. On February 4th, when the toboggan competitions continued, the only thing that was certain for now was that the third run would take place; no runner knew whether this run would be the decisive one. However, since the track was still in perfect condition after this run, the FIL jury decided to continue the fourth run. In this one, Plenk played it safe, while Koehler and Bonsack fought a fight on the bend and break. Bonsack set the best time, but the lead of 0.05 s was too little to get gold.

Single seater women

space	country	sportswoman	1st run	2nd run	3rd run	4th run	total
1	EUA	Ortrun Enderlein	51.13	51.12	50.87	51.55	3: 24.67
2	EUA	Ilse Geisler	51.28	51.48	51.20	53.46	3: 27.42
3	AUT	Helene Thurner	52.08	52.08	52.42	52.48	3: 29.06
4th	POLE	Irena Pawełczyk	52.81	52.42	52.47	52.82	3: 30.52
5	POLE	Barbara Gorgón	54.24	53.01	52.46	53.02	3: 32.73
6th	TCH	Oldrisha Tylova	51.37	57.94	51.65	51.80	3: 32.76
7th	AUT	Friederike Matejka	53.61	52.98	53.94	54.15	3: 34.68
8th	POLE	Helena Macher	53.15	54.50	54.55	53.67	3: 35.87
9	TCH	Hana Nesvadbová	53.56	53.45	54.67	54.42	3: 36.10
10	EUA	Minna Blüml	56.87	53.80	52.33	53.32	3: 36.32
11	SUI	Ursula Amstein	54.25	56.58	55.90	56.08	3: 42.81
12	SUI	Elisabeth Nagele	55.28	55.10	57.61	55.30	3: 43.29
13	ITA	Erica Prugger	55.24	87.28	54.98	55.69	4: 13.19

1st run: January 30, 1964; 2nd run: January 31, 1964;
3rd and 4th run: February 1st,
track length 881 m

17 participants, 13 of them in the rating. Retired u. a .: Erica Außenendorfer (ITA), Monika Luecker (SUI) and Antonia Lanthaler (AUT).

After the first run on the evening of January 30th, Enderlein led ahead of Geisler, Tylová and Thurner. In the second run, Thurner was able to improve to 3rd place, while Lanthaler fell in the «Mousetrap», where she was thrown back into the track and slipped down. Her toboggan flew out and met a spectator who remained unconscious and had to be taken to the Innsbruck University Clinic. On the final day, the two German runners went fast and risky on the track, their superiority was glaring.

Two-seater men

space	country	athlete	1st run	2nd run	total
1	AUT	Josef Feistmantl , Manfred Stengl	50.57	51.05	1: 41.62
2	AUT	Reinhold Senn , Helmut Thaler	51.02	50.89	1: 41.91
3	ITA	Walter Außenendorfer , Siegfried Mair	51.40	51.47	1: 42.87
4th	EUA	Walter Eggert , Helmut Vollprecht	51.27	51.81	1: 43.08
5	POLE	Lucjan Kudeia , Ryszard Pedrak	51.95	51.82	1: 43.77
	ITA	Giampaoli Ambrosi , Giovanni Graber	51.54	52.23	1: 43.77
7th	POLE	Edward Fender , Mieczysław Pawełkiewicz	52.60	52.53	1: 45.13
8th	TCH	Jan Hamřik , Jiři Hujer	52.75	52.66	1: 45.41
9	SUI	Beat Häsler , Arnold Gartmann	53.78	53.31	1: 47.09
10	NOR	Christian Hallén-Paulsen , Jan-Axel Strøm	52.52	55.30	1: 47.82
11	SUI	Emil Egli , Hansruedi Roth	54.88	55.20	1: 50.08
12	TCH	Horst Urban , Roland Urban	52.21	79.49	2: 11.70
13	United States	Ray Fales , Nicholas Mastromatteo	60.75	71.18	2: 11.93

1st and 2nd round: February 5th, 1964

15 teams, 13 of them classified. Retired u. a .: Thomas Köhler / Klaus-Michael Bonsack (EUA).

Since no training run could be carried out before the race day, it took place at 7:30 a.m. Despite the early start of the race, around 2,000 spectators were present. Senn / Thaler set a track record in their first run. Especially in the last corner, the “water trough”, they saved valuable time. On the other hand, it was its biggest competitor Köhler / Bonsack fatal: the Germans drove it too short and fell. They came to 53.13 s, but Bonsack had injured his arm, so the duo was forced to give up. As the third from last starter Feistmantl / Stengl outdid their teammates, while Eggert / Vollprecht came in third. The starting order in the second run was turned upside down. So Feistmantl / Stengl were the first of the medal contenders who did not quite come close to their previous mark. Außenendorfer / Mair still overtook the German couple. Senn / Thaler had by far the best time, but it wasn't quite enough. The award ceremony was carried out by IOC President Avery Brundage .

Web links

• Luge at the 1964 Winter Olympics in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
• Official report of the Olympic Winter Games 1964 (PDF; 21.1 MB)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ "Germany - Luge Nation No. 1". In: Kleine Zeitung Graz, February 5, 1964, pp. 12 and 13.
2. ↑ Sport Zürich, January 29, 1964.
3. ↑ "Fast Helene: Bronze / No heating!" In: Kronen-Zeitung, February 5, 1964, p. 17.
4. ^ "Tobogganing: Hope for Bronze". In: Kurier Wien, January 31, 1964, p. 10.
5. ↑ “Rodler Feistmantl only two hundredths away from bronze”. In: Kronen-Zeitung, January 31, 1964, p. 18.
6. ↑ «38 tobogganists from twelve countries at the start». Kleine Zeitung Graz, February 1, 1964, p. 15.
7. ↑ "The German tobogganers clearly dominate". Kleine Zeitung Graz, February 2, 1964, p. 18.
8. ^ "The other 5 single-seater medals to Germans". In: Kurier Wien, February 5, 1964, p. 7.
9. ↑ «Feistmantl unlucky: timing failed». Courier Vienna, February 5, 1964, p. 8.
10. ^ "Tobogganing: Hope for Bronze". In: "Kurier Wien" January 31, 1964, p. 10.
11. ↑ «Serious luge accident». In: Kurier Wien, February 1, 1964, p. 9.
12. ^ "Gold and silver in two-seater tobogganing". In: Kurier Wien, February 6, 1964, p. 7.
13. ^ "Gold and silver for Austria's tobogganists". In: Kleine Zeitung Graz, February 6, 1964, pp. 12-13.
14. ^ "Austria's tobogganists as lonely winners". In: Kleine Zeitung Graz, February 7, 1964, p. 14.