Gerda Weissensteiner

Gerda Weissensteiner is an Italian luger and bobsleigh pilot, born on 3 January 1969, who competed from the late 1980s to 2006 and took part in six Winter Olympics. She won the gold medal in the women's singles luge at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, was flagbearer at the opening ceremony of the 1998 Games in Nagano, and returned to sledding as a bobsleigh pilot in 2001, winning bronze in the two-woman event at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin with Jennifer Isacco. She was the first Italian sportsperson to win Olympic medals in two disciplines, won the overall luge World Cup title in women's singles twice and won eleven medals at the FIL World Luge Championships. In 2006 she was appointed a Knight of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic.