22 January 2024 - Italy have enjoyed a fantastic start to the Winter Youth Olympic Games (YOG) Gangwon 2024, especially in the Luge where Olympic success is something that runs in the families of a number of the teenage medal winners.
Alexandra Oberstolz won gold in the doubles and a silver in the singles, Manuel Weissensteiner won gold in the men’s doubles and Leon Haselrieder won the gold in the men’s singles…all of them have Olympians as parents.
Oberstolz is coached by her father Christian, who represented Italy in Luge at three Winter Olympic Games, Haselrieder’s father Oswald is a five time Olympian while Weissenteiner’s mother Gerda is the only Italian to win medals at two different sports - gold in Luge in Lillehammer 1994 and bronze in Bobsleigh in Torino 2006.
No wonder then that the class of 2024 are doing so well. And with the Milano-Cortina Winter Olympic Games on the horizon in 2026, Italian sliders are in a great place.
Oberstolz says the silver in singles was the tougher of her two medals but her father knew she would do well after watching her training in the run up to Gangwon 2024.
Alexandra welcomes having her father by her side as her coach, inspiring her both on and off the ice.
Weissensteiner was delighted to win gold - but knows he’s got a long way to go to match his mother’s Olympic career.
But what a start the next generation of Italian sliders have made to their Olympic journeys, and they will be hoping the next step will be on their home ice in two years’ time.
Gangwon 2024 runs until 1 February, with more than 1,800 athletes from 78 NOCs taking part. The Winter Youth Olympic Games is filmed for live television and digital streaming on the Olympic Channel via Olympics.com and the Olympics app, with full session replays and highlights also available.
