SOCHI WINTER OLYMPICS 2014: Six medals in six Olympics: Armin Zoeggeler the legend

Armin Zoeggeler competes during the Men's Luge Singles run one at the Sliding Center Sanki during the Sochi Winter Olympics on February 8, 2014. Photo by LIONEL BONAVENTURE/AFP/Getty Images

By Andrea Giannini, AIPS

SOCHI, February 10, 2014 - It was February 14, 1994, Valentine's Day. Like every year, that year too, lovers exchanged gifts and promises of love. Bill Clinton was the President of the United States and Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain was still singing Smells like Teen Spirit and Come as you are live. Armin Zöggeler was 20 years old and had recently cut his rockstar-style long hair and chose to do the professional athlete thing and go fast with his luge. That day in Lillehammer, at the first Olympic Games of his career, Zöggeler won the bronze medal, and that first award was the beginning of an endless story. For the boy came from Foiana - a village of a few souls in the far north of Italy’s German-speaking region - these 20 years have passed at the speed of light amidst stratospheric parabolic curves, infinite straights, ice sheets and steel blades, training and focusing. But above all, amidst an incredible run of success: 6 consecutive medals in 6 Olympics, with no one like him in history. This story began in Lillehammer 1994 when Zöggeler, almost unknown by all, ended up third behind the giants of the era, Georg Hackl and Markus Prock. Four years later, in Nagano 1998, Germany’s Hackl still took gold but Zöggeler, second, was very close, and he knew that his time would soon to come. The moment finally arrived in Salt Lake City 2002. Gold. Old rivals Hackl and Prock were behind him this time. Then came 2006, with the Olympic Games in his nation in Turin, and this for him was the moment of immortalization: his second gold in a row, this time almost unrivalled. Then the weight of years slowly caught up, with moments of physical pain and new rising opponents, but also with the wisdom of an experienced athlete. At Vancouver 2010, Zöggeler was again able to get on the podium behind rising star Felix Loch and another German David Moller. The right moment to stop? Absolutely not. He went straight to Sochi, with the dream of another medal. That came, punctual, fast and as accurate as his preparation. Bronze again, behind Loch and another ‘old man’, Russian Dymchenko (seven-time Winter Olympic particpant and the second silver in his career after Turin 2006). In between, came dozens of World and European medals in single and double luge. A legend. The cannibal, they call him, but Armin Zöggeler don’t like this nickname. He's a nice person with calm and self-controlled manners. At 40 years-old, he loves the speed (when he was young he had a Kawasaki 600, then decided to go even faster with just the luge), but also his family, the quiet of his farm and his mountain walks. When working, he’s meticulous and sharp: five hours a day of training between luge runs, the study of steel and ice, physical and psychological preparation. Nothing can be left to chance. And champions don’t do anything by chance. Not even when Zöggeler, after his sixth consecutive medal at the Olympics here in Sochi, threw off the visor of his helmet in a symbolic act of liberation. This is history. The champion has overtaken even his own sled. Armin Zoeggeler statistics Born: Merano, January 4, 1974 Olympics: 6 medals 2 Gold (single in Salt Lake City 2002, single in Torino 2006) 1 Silver (single in Nagano 1998) 3 Bronze (single in Lillehammer 1994, single in Vancouver 2010, single in Sochi 2014) World Championships: 16 medals 6 Gold (single at Lillehammer 1995, single at Schonau am Konigssee 1999, single at Calgary 2001, single at Sigulda 2003, single at Park City 2005, single at Cesana Torinese 2011) 5 Silver (team at Lillehammer 1995, single at Sankt Moritz 2000, single and team at Igls 2007, single at Lake Placid 2009) 5 Bronze (team at Altenberg 1996, team at Igls 1997, team at Nagano 2004, team at Park City 2005, Single at Altenberg 2012) European Championships: 18 medals 4 gold (team competition at Schonau am Konigssee, single at Oberhof 2004single at Cesana Torinese 2008; single at Sigulda 2014 6 silver (team competition Oberhof 1998, team competition Oberhof 2004, single and team competition at Winterberg 2006, single at Paramovo 2012, team Oberhof 2013) 8 bronze (single at Schonau am Konigssee 1994, team at Sigulda 1996, single, team at Winterberg 2000, single at Altenberg 2002, team at Cesana Torinese 2008, team at Paramonovo 2012, team at Sigulda 2014). World Cup Winner of the World Cup in single discipline 1997/98, 1999/00, 2000/01, 2003/04, 2005/06, 2006/07, 2007/08, 2008/09, 2009/10, 2010/11 120 podiums (103 single, 17 team competition): 59 times 1° place (57 single, 2 team) 33 times 2° place (26 single, 7 team) 28 times 3° place (20 single, 8 team)