Rene Friedl, whose sporting career began on the Spießbergbahn in his birthplace, was active in the second half of the 1980s and first half of the 1990s. He was initially trained by Bernhard Glass . In 1987 and 1989 he was runner-up in the GDR . At the 1989 World Cup in Winterberg he won silver and gold at the 1990 European Championship with the GDR team. After the reunification he moved up to the reunified national team. At the European Championships in Winterberg in 1992, he achieved his greatest success by winning the European Championship title both individually and with the team. In 1993 a world championship title was added with the team in Calgary , and a year later silver again with the team in Königssee . During his active time, Friedl was considered a daredevil willing to take risks and a “break pilot”.
After the end of his active career in 1994, Friedl studied at the German Sport University Cologne and became a trainer. At first he was the base trainer of North Rhine-Westphalia and trainer of the German B-team. For the 2005/06 season he was appointed national coach for Austria. In his first season he was able to record a great success with winning the first two-seater gold medal in 42 years at the Olympic Games by the duo Andreas Linger and Wolfgang Linger .
German Democratic Republic of Germany
Calgary