Natalie Geisenberger

Natalie Geisenberger was born in Munich in 1988 and later moved to Miesbach, Bavaria, a town known for its luge facilities. She began luge at age 10, joining the local club RRT Miesbach. Her junior career included 14 Junior World Cup victories, three overall Junior World Cup titles, and six Junior World Championship crowns between 2004 and 2007, across singles and team events. Geisenberger transitioned to the senior circuit, winning her first European singles championship in 2008 in Cesana Pariol, Italy, where she also secured an U-23 world title three years later. Her debut World Cup win followed in the 2008/09 season, culminating in a second-place overall finish behind Tatjana Hüfner.

Geisenberger’s Olympic journey began with a bronze medal at the Vancouver 2010 Games. After consistently placing second to Hüfner in the World Cup for four years, she achieved her first overall World Cup title in the 2012/13 season, securing six wins and three second-place finishes. Her dominance continued into the 2013/14 season with seven wins in eight races, leading to her first Olympic gold in women’s singles at Sochi 2014, where she set performance benchmarks by being the only woman to break 50 seconds on all four runs. She further contributed to Germany’s mixed team relay gold at Sochi, solidifying her status. Geisenberger maintained consecutive World Cup titles for six years until 2018, adding World Championship golds in singles and team relay in 2015 and 2016. She secured her second Olympic singles gold at PyeongChang 2018, followed by another mixed team relay gold, bringing her Olympic medal count to five, including four golds.

In 2019, Geisenberger took a break due to pregnancy, and her son Leo was born in May 2020. She returned to competition six months later, winning her eighth World Cup series title in the 2020/21 season with victories in Oberhof and Innsbruck. Her career culminated at Beijing 2022, where she became the first luger to win double gold at three consecutive Olympic Games and the sport’s most decorated Olympian with seven medals—six golds and one bronze. Geisenberger announced her retirement from competitive sport on September 24, 2023, after a 16-year career.