Gerhard Plankensteiner
Plank Gerhard Steiner ( born April 8, 1971 in Sterzing, South Tyrol ) is an Italian former luger.
Plank Steiner toboggan for over 20 years at international level, first in one, then in doubles with his partner Oswald Haselrieder. During this time, the South Tyrolean won two gold medals at world championships and an Olympic bronze medal. In addition, five World Cup victories, the Plank Steiner and Haselrieder reached between 1995 and 2008.
Career
Plank Steiner debuted early in international races and won already 17 years old at the Luge World Cup in Winterberg in 1989 the gold medal in the inaugural team competition. There he started in single-seater next to Norbert Huber. Two years later he was employed in the team competition again at the World Cup in Winterberg, this time Italy won the bronze medal. There was a participation in the Olympic bobsleigh competitions in 1992, where he was in the single-seater eleventh. He placed himself while in the upper middle, but he was the worst of the three Italians started.
After ausbleibendem success as a single pilot Plank Steiner joined the mid- 1990s to the doubles where Oswald Haselrieder was his partner. Even in the World Cup in 1994/95 achieved by the two lugers her first World Cup victory in St. Moritz. A year later, they won the bronze medal at the World Championships in 1996. According to this good result they represented Italy in the team competition and reached there also third. In the same year they won the silver medal at the European Championships in Sigulda. Even a year later Plankensteiner and Haselrieder were nominated for the team competition; again they won bronze. At the same time they reached this winter in the World Cup second place, where they celebrated their second win in a single World Cup. In subsequent seasons the double lost to Gerhard Steiner Plank status as the best doubles in the Italian team. Despite continued consistently good results between fourth and eight at major events from 1998 to 2005 they launched at the Olympics in both 1998 and 2002, only than Italy II 's leadership took as of 1999 the double top Christian Pride / Patrick Gruber one. After all, they brought in 2002 the bronze medal at the European Championships in Altenberg.
As of 2004, the results of Plankensteiner / Haselrieder be improved; in the 2004/05 season they finished in second place in the ranking of the Challenge Cup. At the Olympic Games in 2006 they went back as Italy I at the start. While Upper pride and Gruber lost the chances of a good result in the first passage, and hazel Plank Steiner Rieder went well in both rounds and covered with .433 seconds behind the victorious Austrians Andreas and Wolfgang Linger the bronze medal. A wide media coverage - in Italy and abroad - effected the response Plank Steiner to the question of an Italian reporter whether he would " then Mameli Hymn ", the Italian national anthem sung at a victory. The South Tyrolean replied that he does not know this song, which medially a discussion of the relationship of the South Tyrolean athletes to Italy was begun. Plank Steiner apologized the statement with comprehension problems because he does not speak Italian so well, he would, of course, know the anthem. 2006 Plank Steiner was awarded the Order of Merit " Cavaliere " of the Italian Republic. After the Olympics Plankensteiner and Haselrieder maintained their good form and reached the Overall World Cup 2006/ 07 to third place with a World Cup victory, now the fourth in the last race. In 2008, the duo captured the bronze medal at the European Championships in Cesana. Twenty years after Plank Steiner had become world champions in the team, he repeated in 2009 in doubles triumph. At the World Championships in Lake Placid, he and his partner in the first round a new track record and were also in the second run the fastest. Thus they brought out a lead of six hundredths of a second over second-placed German double André Florschütz / Torsten Wustlich and won. At the Olympic Winter Games 2010 in Vancouver, Canada, they reached ninth place. In September 2010 Plank Steiner announced his retirement from competitive sport known and now works as a forester in South Tyrol.