Luge Legend Georg Hackl Leads Powerful National Team

The luge champ shows his Bavarian spirit.

Five minutes on the luge track at Salt Lake City, Utah separate Georg Hackl from Olympic immortality. When the three-time Olympic gold medaller and sports legend plants his nail-studded gloves in the ice of the world's fastest track, Hackl will be readying himself for the ride of his life. Precision is all: timing, sled weight and design (Hackl, who trained as a metal worker, builds his own), uniform aerodynamics, temperature of track, air and even equipment, must be calibrated to three decimal places. Once launched, the racer makes minute but imperative calculations and adjustments while tearing down a deadly 1,335-meter curve-laden tube of ice at 90 miles per hour.

"The Olympics are a different kettle of fish," says Hackl. "The track at Salt Lake City has a different character from all the others that we've ridden on this year. It is tailor-made for someone like Armin Zöggeler," Hackl says, referring to the world champion from northern Italy and shifting the weight of expectation to his rival. "Every athlete has difficulties with the second curve in the track. Only Zöggeler can handle [it] like a dream." But Hackl would not be Hackl if he did not have a reserve of strength ready for the high point of the season. The pressures are astronomical: if Hackl takes the gold this year, he will become the first athlete ever to win four consecutive gold medals at the Winter Games - in any sport. It's a good thing Hackl is known for cool composure.

Hackl, 36, is a dyed-in-the-wool Bavarian. He still lives and trains in his native Berchtesgaden and is famous for his love of local traditions. He is often seen in lederhosen, performing Bavarian dances and toasting his victories with regional beers. As a teenager, Hackl did not consider himself much of an athlete. But when luge was offered as a physical education activity at his school (which stands in the shadow of the world-famous Königssee luge track), he took to it immediately. At 16, he became an apprentice metal worker and learned the art of building sleds, combining passion and profession seamlessly.

Luger Georg Hackl is going for a record fourth gold medal.

Hackl has gone from strength to strength in luge (Rodeln, in German). He has been winning world championship titles since 1986 (with further victories in 1989, 1990 and 1997) and has finished in the top three in the overall World Cup standings eight times. Many attribute Hackl's success to his unshakable nerves and concentration during competition. It is common for Hackl to place in the middle of the pack during training runs, but then turn on the heat in competition and emerge the winner. His devotion to luge is legendary - it is said that Hackl would sneak in four or five runs on the Königsee track after school and wake up in the middle of the night to polish his runners or tinker with his sled. In addition to a silver souvenir from Calgary, Hackl holds gold medals from Albertville, Lillehammer and Nagano - where he placed first in all four individual runs, a singular achievement in luge.

In 1999, Hackl took a few wrong turns on this otherwise flawless course. He crashed during the world championships and was kept off the medal stand for the first time in a dozen years. Equipment troubles plagued him through the following season. But by 2001, Hackl was back in form at World Cup competitions in Canada and the U.S., and this year he seems unstoppable.

When the luge competitions begin on February 10, Hackl and his teammates will carry with them the highest expectations - anything less than a flood of medals would be a disappointment. Olympic veteran Karsten Albert of Oberhof and newcomer Denis Geppert of Oberwiesenthal are the men's team's best chances, says national trainer Thomas Schwab. "Without being immodest, we expect the women to take two medals," Schwab adds. Nagano victor Silke Kraushaar, world champion Sylke Otto (also from Oberhof and Oberwiesenthal, respectively) and Barbara Niedernhuber are the trio that trainer Schwab hopes will take home a treasure chest of bronze, silver and gold for the women. The other members of the German national team are seen as favorites to place among the top ten at the Salt Lake City games, continuing a national tradition of victory in this breathtaking sport.

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