Gabriele Kohlisch


Gabriele Kohlisch is a German luger and bobsledder who competed from the mid-1980s to 1997 in luge, then from 1998 to the early 2000s in bobsleigh. She is one of only two people to win World Championship gold medals in both bobsledding and luge, the other being fellow German Susi Erdmann.
She was born in Karl-Marx-Stadt and initially competed for East Germany.

Luge career

Kohlisch won ten medals at the FIL World Luge Championships, including six golds and four silvers. She also won three medals at the FIL European Luge Championships, including two silvers and one bronze. Kohlisch competed in two Winter Olympics for the reunified Germany in the women's singles event, finishing sixth in both 1992 and 1994. Kohilsch retired from luge in 1997, mainly to the competitiveness among her fellow German teammates, most notably Jana Bode, Erdmann, Silke Kraushaar, Barbara Niedernhuber, and Sylke Otto. She won the Luge World Cup overall title in women's singles in 1993-4.

Bobsleigh career

Kohlisch switched to bobsleigh in 1998, competing at the FIBT World Championships. She won the gold medal in the debut two-woman event at the 2000 FIBT World Championships in Winterberg, Germany. She tried out for the German bobsleigh team to compete at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, but finished third behind Erdmann and Sandra Prokoff.

Other activities

Kohlisch now serves as a spokesperson for the International Luge Federation and has served as a spokesperson for the German luge team since the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano.
She is also responsible for physical education at Naval Academy Mürwik, the German Naval Academy in Flensburg-Mürwik, Germany.