Werner Hoeger

Werner Hoeger is a former luge athlete who competed for Venezuela at the 2002 Winter Olympics and the 2006 Winter Olympics. Born and raised in Mérida, Venezuela, he was a gymnast in his youth, a member of the Venezuelan national gymnastics team from 1970 who won 34 of 36 individual national titles before retiring in 1976. He took up luge five weeks before his 45th birthday. His best Olympic finish was 32nd in the men's singles event at Turin in 2006, where he was Venezuela's only athlete and carried its flag in the Parade of Nations; at Salt Lake City in 2002 he competed alongside his son Christopher, and they became the only father and son to compete in the same Olympic Winter Games event. His best finish at the FIL World Luge Championships was 38th in the men's singles at Nagano in 2004. Outside sport he is a professor emeritus of exercise science at Boise State University and a widely read author of fitness and wellness textbooks, and after the Olympics he raced in track and field at World Masters Athletics championships.