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Königssee bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track

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The Königssee bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track is a venue in Germany for bobsleigh, luge and skeleton, located in Schönau am Königssee, Bavaria, near Königssee (German for "King's Lake") and the border with Austria. Completed 56 years ago in 1968, it is the first permanent, artificially refrigerated bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track in the world. In July 2021, the track was severely damaged by the floods that affected the European continent, and is currently under reconstruction.

Königssee is located in Germany
Königssee
Königssee
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Location in Germany
Königssee is located in Bavaria
Königssee
Königssee
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Location in Bavaria
Königssee track map

History

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In 1967, Königssee hosted the European luge championships on a naturally refrigerated track.[1] Later that year, it was decided to construct a permanent, reinforced concrete structure that was artificially refrigerated. The track, initially for luge, was completed in 1968.[2] The first international competition took place the following year with the FIL World Luge Championships.[3]

On 3–4 December 1977, the track hosted the first Luge World Cup event won by Paul Hildgartner (Italy - men's singles), Andrea Fendt (West Germany - women's singles), and Italy's Peter Gschnitzer and Karl Brunner (men's doubles).[4]

Bobsleigh was added to the track in the 1970s in time for the track to host their sports' championship event in 1979, the first time any track would host both bobsleigh and luge in the same year in a non-Winter Olympic year (the track in Igls, Austria, was the first to do this at the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck).[5][6][7]

Skeleton competitions began in the late 1970s, hosting the world championships in 1990.[8] The track was part of Salzburg, Austria's unsuccessful bid for the 2014 Winter Olympics in 2007.[9] In October 2008, it was announced that the track would undergo a renovation project from 2010 to 2016.[10] Costing € 21.7 million to do, the track is being done in part of Munich's bid to host the 2018 Winter Olympics. Renovation includes extending the finish line and a new building near turn 16 and is scheduled to be complete by 2012. The starting area of the track will be started in 2014 and will finish in 2016.[11] On 28 February 2009, it was announced the track would host the 2011 FIBT World Championships after the original winner, Cortina d'Ampezzo, withdrew to issues with the city and the track.[12] The 29th and last Luge World Cup at the track prior to renovation took place on 2–3 January 2010.[11] Bobsleigh and Skeleton had their last World Cup prior to renovation the following weekend.[13]

Track renovation was done during the rest of 2010. At the end of March 2010, the Turbodrom Kreisel turn caught fire following some welding work and was badly damaged. Renovation of the refrigeration plant was carried out in December 2010 with ammonia being pumped in on the 18th. Olympic champion Felix Loch made the first run on the luge part of the track on the 23rd in time for the World Cup event on 5–6 January 2011. The renovation was also done for the 2011 FIBT World Championships that took place in late February.[14]

In 2021, the track was severely damaged by the flooding across Europe. According to BSD (German Bobsleigh and Luge Association) President Thomas Schwab, it would take until October 2022 before the track will return to competition status. There was no ammonia refrigeration leak though to the piping being shut off to the end of the season.[15]

On April 22, 2024, work began on the reconstruction of the bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track with the dismantling of the men's luge start as well as the damaged track segments down to curve 5. The construction phase of the bedload dosing barrier, ammonia and long-distance lines will start in October 2024 and repair work on the Bobstart building in early 2025.[16]

The artificial track at Königssee is scheduled to reopen in November 2025, with FIL and IBSF World Cups being hosted again starting with the 2025/2026 season. In addition, on June 15, 2024, at the congress in Lake Placid, the FIL awarded the 2028 Luge World Championships to the track at Königssee.[17]

Statistics

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Ice rink at Königssee
 
Deutsche Post Eisarena Königssee.
Physical statistics
Sport[18] Length Turns Grade
Luge - men's singles 1.362 km (0.85 mi) 16 10.35%
Skeleton 1.270 km (0.79 mi) 12 9.20%
Bobsleigh 1.270 km (0.79 mi) 13 9.30%
Luge - women's singles 1.242 km (0.77 mi) 12 9.20%
Luge - men's doubles 1.242 km (0.77 mi) 12 9.20%

The track has a vertical drop of 117 metres (384 ft) from the bobsleigh start; the elevation at the base is 630 m (2,065 ft) above sea level.[19]

Turns
Turn number Name Reason named
2, 3 Eiskapelle German for "Ice chapel"
5, 6, 7, 8, 9 Schlangengrube/ S-Kombination German for "Snake pit"/ S-combination in (in German) (Four turns in quick succession without a straight (labyrinth))
13. Turbodrom 320-degree Kreisel (circular) curve.
16. Josef Fendt Kurve Originally Echowand and later Seekurve (Lake curve), renamed in November 2020 for Fendt, who served as International Luge Federation president from February 1994 to November 2020. Fendt won World Championships on this track both in 1970 and 1974.
17, 18 Zielhaus German for "Finish house".

Turns 1, 4, 10, 11, 12, 14 and 15 have no names listed in the track diagram.[20]

Track records (all from [21] unless noted)
Sport Record Nation Athlete(s) Date Time
(sec.)
Bobsleigh - two-man[22] Start    Switzerland Beat Hefti & Thomas Lamparter 10 Jan 2009 4.80
Bobsleigh - two-man[23] Track   Germany André Lange & Kevin Kuske 9 Jan 2010 49.00
Bobsleigh - two-woman[24] Start   Canada Kaillie Humphries & Heather Moyse 9 Jan 2010 5.25
Bobsleigh - two-woman[25] Track   Germany Cathleen Martini & Romy Logsch 9 Jan 2010 50.37
Bobsleigh - four-man Start   Latvia Oskars Melbārdis, Helvijs Lūsis,
Arvis Vilkaste, & Jānis Strenga 		15 Jan 2012 4.77
Bobsleigh - four-man Track   Germany André Lange, Kevin Kuske,
René Hoppe, & Alexander Metzger 		3 Feb 2008 48.38
Luge - men's singles[26] Start   Germany (tie) - David Möller & Jan Eichhorn 6 Jan 2008 3.229
Luge - men's singles[26] Track   Russia Albert Demtschenko 3 Jan 2010 47.049
Luge - women's singles[27] Start   Germany Silke Kraushaar 8 Jan 2005 2.962
Luge - women's singles[27] Track   Germany Tatjana Hüfner 5 Jan 2008 47.262
Luge - men's doubles[28] Start   Germany Tobias Wendl & Tobias Arlt 2 Jan 2010 2.847
Luge - men's doubles[28] Track   Germany Patric Leitner & Alexander Resch 5 Jan 2008 46.921
Skeleton - men Start   Russia Aleksandr Tretyakov 2 Feb 2008 4.56
Skeleton - men[29] Track   Germany Frank Rommel 9 Jan 2009 47.44
Skeleton - women Start   Canada Lindsay Alcock 28 Feb 2004 4.96
Skeleton - women[30] Track   Canada Mellisa Hollingsworth 8 Jan 2010 48.78

Championships hosted

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References

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  1. ^ a b FIL European Luge Championships men's singles results since 1914 Archived 15 November 2006 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ "Bobsleigh and Olympism", Olympic Review. December 1984. p. 1011.
  3. ^ "Luge and Olympism", December 1983. p. 853.
  4. ^ No drudgery after luge festival in Thuringia. at the Fédération Internationale de Luge de Course (30 January 2008 article; accessed 2 December 2009).
  5. ^ 1976 Winter Olympics official report Archived 26 February 2008 at the Wayback Machine, pp. 206–208 on the Igls track. (in English and French), and (in German)
  6. ^ a b c Bobsleigh two-man world championship medalists since 1931 Archived 29 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ a b FIL World Luge Championships men's single results since 1955 Archived 18 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ a b FIBT men's skeleton world championships men's skeleton results since 1989 Archived 29 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ Salzburg2014 Book 8 on bid featuring Königssee bobsleigh, luge, and track bid, pp. 51–54. (in English and French) (dealinked)
  10. ^ List of proposed sports facilities to be used for the 2018 Winter Olympics in Munich, including Königssee. (in German). Accessed 17 October 2009.
  11. ^ a b Last Viessmann Luge World Cup prior to Koenigsee reconstruction. at the Fédération Internationale de Luge de Course (31 December 2009 FIL article; accessed 8 January 2010).
  12. ^ a b Königssee to Host 2011 FIBT World Championship. at the Fédération Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganing (28 February 2009 accessed 28 February 2009.)
  13. ^ World Cup Action Resumes in Koeningsee. at the Fédération Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganing (7 January 2010 FIBT article; accessed 8 January 2010).
  14. ^ Homologisation of new artificially-iced track in Koenigssee. Olympic champion Felix Loch mad the first run. at the Fédération Internationale de Luge de Course (3 January 2011 article; accessed 4 January 2011).
  15. ^ Article on damage to the Koeningssee track, fil-luge.org. 18 July 2021. Accessed 19 July 2021.
  16. ^ [1], berchtesgadener-anzeiger.de. 23 April 2024. Accessed 24 April 2024.
  17. ^ [2], fil-luge.org. 15 June 2024. Accessed 24 September 2024.
  18. ^ Königssee track data (in German). Accessed 19 February 2012.
  19. ^ "Königssee". IBSF. (tracks). Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  20. ^ BSD.de track profile Archived 7 August 2009 at the Wayback Machine (in German).
  21. ^ Königssee track records. Archived 14 September 2009 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 20 December 2008.
  22. ^ FIBT Bobsleigh World Cup Königgssee 10 January 2009 bobsleigh two-man results. Accessed 10 January 2009.
  23. ^ Florschuetz Takes 2-Man in Koenigssee. at the Fédération Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganing (9 January 2010 article; accessed 9 January 2010).
  24. ^ Bobsleigh - two-woman results Archived 13 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine (9 January 2010 article; accessed 9 January 2010).
  25. ^ Martini Sets Record, Wins Women's Bob Race. at the Fédération Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganing (9 January 2010 article; accessed 9 January 2010).
  26. ^ a b FIL Luge World Cup Königssee 3 January 2010 men's singles results. Accessed 3 January 2010.
  27. ^ a b FIL Luge World Cup Königssee 2 January 2010 women's singles results. Accessed 2 January 2010.
  28. ^ a b FIL Luge World Cup Königssee 2 January 2010 doubles results. Accessed 2 January 2010.
  29. ^ FIBT Skeleton World Cup Königssee World Cup 9 January 2009 men's skeleton results. Accessed 10 January 2009.
  30. ^ Hollingsworth Sets Record, Wins in Koenigssee. at the Fédération Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganing (8 January 2010 FIBT article; accessed 8 January 2010).
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47°35′19″N 12°58′52″E / 47.5887°N 12.9812°E / 47.5887; 12.9812

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