Paul Hildgartner (born 8 June 1952 in Chienes) is an Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 of German descent former luge

Luge

A Luge is a small one- or two-person sled on which one sleds supine and feet-first. Steering is done by flexing the sled's runners with the calf of each leg or exerting opposite shoulder pressure to the seat. Racing sleds weigh 21-25 kilograms for singles and 25-30 kilograms for doubles. Luge...

r who competed from the early 1970s to the late 1980s. Competing in five Winter Olympics, he earned two gold medals (Men's doubles: 1972

1972 Winter Olympics

The 1972 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XI Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated from February 3 to February 13, 1972 in Sapporo, Hokkaidō, Japan...

, Men's singles: 1984

1984 Winter Olympics

The 1984 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIV Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated from 8–19 February 1984 in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia. Other candidate cities were Sapporo, Japan; and Gothenburg, Sweden...

) and one silver medal (Men's singles: 1980

1980 Winter Olympics

The 1980 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIII Olympic Winter Games, was a multi-sport event which was celebrated from 13 February through 24 February 1980 in Lake Placid, New York, United States of America. This was the second time the Upstate New York village hosted the Games, after 1932...

) for his efforts. At the 1984 Winter Olympics

1984 Winter Olympics

The 1984 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIV Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated from 8–19 February 1984 in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia. Other candidate cities were Sapporo, Japan; and Gothenburg, Sweden...

, Hildgartner carried the Italian flag

Flag of Italy

The flag of Italy is a tricolour featuring three equally sized vertical pales of green, white, and red, with the green at the hoist side...

 during the opening ceremonies.

Hildgartner also won five medals at the FIL World Luge Championships with two golds (Men's singles: 1978

FIL World Luge Championships 1978

-Men's singles:-Women's singles:-Men's doubles:-Medal table:-References:***...

, Men's doubles: 1971

FIL World Luge Championships 1971

-Men's singles:-Women's singles:-Men's doubles:-Medal table:-References:***...

) and three bronzes (Men's singles: 1979

FIL World Luge Championships 1979

The FIL World Luge Championships 1979 took place in Königssee, West Germany for a record fourth time. Königssee had hosted the event previously in 1969, 1970, and 1974...

, 1983

FIL World Luge Championships 1983

The FIL World Luge Championships 1983 took place in Lake Placid, New York, United States. It marked the first time that the championships took place outside of Europe.-Men's singles:...

; Men's doubles: 1973

FIL World Luge Championships 1973

The FIL World Luge Championships 1973 took place in Oberhof, East Germany.-Men's singles:-Women's singles:-Men's doubles:-Medal table:-References:***...

). Additionally, he won six medals at the FIL European Luge Championships with four golds (Men's singles: 1978

FIL European Luge Championships 1978

The FIL European Luge Championships 1978 took place in Hammarstrand, Sweden for the third time after hosting the event previously in 1970 and 1976.-Men's singles:-Women's singles:-Men's doubles:...

, 1984

FIL European Luge Championships 1984

The FIL European Luge Championships 1984 took place in Olang, Italy for the third time after hosting the event previously in 1975 and 1980.-Men's singles:Haspinger earned his third straight bronze medal in this event at the championships.-Women's singles:...

; Men's doubles: 1971

FIL European Luge Championships 1971

The FIL European Luge Championships 1971 took place in Imst, Austria for the second time after having previously hosted the championships in 1956. A record four countries won medals at these championships.-Men's singles:-Women's singles:-Men's doubles:...

, 1974

FIL European Luge Championships 1974

The FIL European Luge Championships 1974 took place in Imst, Austria for the third time after previously hosting the event in 1956 and 1971.-Men's singles:-Women's singles:-Men's doubles:-Medal table:-References:***...

), one silver (Men's singles: 1979

FIL European Luge Championships 1979

The FIL European Luge Championships 1979 took place in Oberhof, East Germany.-Men's singles:-Women's singles:-Men's doubles:-Medal table:-References:***...

), and one bronze (Mixed team: 1988

FIL European Luge Championships 1988

The FIL European Luge Championships 1988 took place in Königssee, West Germany for a record fifth time after hosting the event previously in 1967, 1972, 1973, and 1977...

). He also won the Luge World Cup overall title in men's singles in 1978-9, 1980-81 (tied with fellow Italian Ernst Haspinger

Ernst Haspinger

Ernst Haspinger was an Italian luger who competed during the late 1970s and early 1980s. He won a bronze medal in the men's singles event at the 1981 FIL World Luge Championships in Hammarstrand, Sweden....

), and 1982-3.

Hildgartner is the only person to win a gold medal in men's singles luge and men's doubles luge at the Winter Olympics, FIL World Luge Championships, and FIL European Luge Championships. He was among the first inductees into the International Luge Federation (FIL) Hall of Fame in 2004, along with Klaus Bonsack

Klaus Bonsack

Klaus Bonsack is an East German former luger who competed during the 1960s and early 1970s.He was born in Waltershausen, Thuringia....

 and Margit Schumann

Margit Schumann

Margit Schumann is an East German luger who competed during the 1970s and early 1980s. Competing in three Winter Olympics, she won two medals in the women's singles event with a gold in 1976 and a bronze in 1972).Schumann also won four consecutive gold medals at the FIL World Luge Championships...

.

Following the 2006 Winter Olympics

2006 Winter Olympics

The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XX Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in Turin, Italy from February 10, 2006, through February 26, 2006. This marked the second time Italy hosted the Olympic Winter Games, the first being the VII Olympic Winter...

 in Turin

Turin

Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...

, the 17th turn at Cesana Pariol

Cesana Pariol

Cesana Pariol was the venue for bobsled, luge and skeleton during the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. The track, built for the games, is located in Cesana...

 where the bobsleigh

Bobsleigh

Bobsleigh or bobsled is a winter sport in which teams of two or four make timed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sled that are combined to calculate the final score....

, luge, and skeleton

Skeleton (sport)

Skeleton is a fast winter sliding sport in which an individual person rides a small sled down a frozen track while lying face down, during which athletes experience forces up to 5g. It originated in St. Moritz, Switzerland as a spin-off from the popular British sport of Cresta Sledding...

events took place was renamed in his honor.