David Gleirscher

David Gleirscher is an Austrian luger, born on 23 July 1994, who competed for Austria in the 2015-16 Luge World Cup in the men's singles and finished tenth in the points standings. He became a surprise Olympic champion in men's luge at the 2018 Winter Olympics when the favourite, Felix Loch, made a mistake on the last run and dropped out of the medals; before that win Gleirscher had not stood on a single World Cup podium. Luge runs in his family: his father Gerhard is a retired luger who won three world championship medals, including gold in the team event and bronze in the men's singles in 1997, and competed in three Winter Olympics. His younger brother Nico Gleirscher also races for Austria. Gleirscher did not qualify for the 2026 Olympics.