Luxembourg at the Olympics

Athletes from Luxembourg have competed at 28 editions of the modern Olympic Games. Luxembourg's National Olympic Committee, the Luxembourg Olympic and Sporting Committee, was founded in 1912 and sent its first team to the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm.

Luxembourg at the
Olympics
IOC codeLUX
NOCLuxembourg Olympic and Sporting Committee
Websitewww.teamletzebuerg.lu (in French)
Medals
Gold
1
Silver
3
Bronze
0
Total
4
Summer appearances
Winter appearances

Only two athletes won medals competing for Luxembourg in the Summer Olympics: weightlifter Joseph Alzin, silver in 1920, and runner Josy Barthel, gold in 1952. In the late 20th-century, it was discovered that runner Michel Théato was actually Luxembourgish. Théato competed for France at the 1900 Summer Olympics, where he won the gold medal in the men's marathon. The medal is still credited to France by the IOC.[1]

Luxembourg first competed at the Winter Olympic Games in 1928, and has taken part in a total of seven Winter Games. Thus, despite having been one of the earliest countries to take part, Luxembourg has competed in relatively few of the Games. In the seven Games, Luxembourg has won a total of two medals: both silver, and won by Marc Girardelli in 1992.

After Luxembourg's first appearance, in St. Moritz, and the country's second appearance, at the 1936 Games in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Luxembourg did not compete at the Olympics for another five decades. As a low-lying country, whose highest peak (the Kneiff) lies only 560 metres (1,837 ft) above sea level, Luxembourg had little pedigree in most Winter Olympic sports.

However, the naturalisation of Marc Girardelli, an Austrian-born alpine skier, saw Luxembourg return to the Games in 1988. In the following Winter Olympics, in 1992 in Albertville, Girardelli won Luxembourg's first two Winter Olympic medals, scooping silver in both the Giant Slalom and Super G.

Neither Girardelli, nor Luxembourg, has won another Winter medal since 1992, but the country's return to the Winter world stage has been maintained by the appearance of two ice skaters in subsequent Games: Patrick Schmit in 1998 and Fleur Maxwell in 2006.

Luxembourg qualified for the 2010 Winter Olympics two athletes but did not participate because one did not reach the criteria set by the NOC and the other was injured before the Games.

Medal tables

List of medalists

Medal Name Games Sport Event
 Gold Josy Barthel 1952 Helsinki Athletics Men's 1500m
 SilverJoseph Alzin 1920 AntwerpWeightliftingMen's Heavyweight
 SilverMarc Girardelli 1992 AlbertvilleAlpine skiingMen's super-G
 SilverMarc Girardelli 1992 AlbertvilleAlpine skiingMen's giant slalom

See also

References

  1. "60th anniversary for only Luxembourg Olympic gold medal win". Archived from the original on 2015-07-12. Retrieved 2015-07-11.
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