A Bronze for ThyssenKrupp Presta

At the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, German doubles luge team members Toni Eggert and Sascha Benecken used technical know-how from their sponsor, Thyssenkrupp Presta, to find victory. Using a sled made of wood from Liechtenstein, as well as rails developed in Eschen, the athletes raced down an ice-track at speeds greater than 80 mph. The company goes back to 1941 when it was founded in Eschen, Liechtenstein, as Press- und Stanzwerk AG, otherwise known as Presta. It would serve as a world leader in mechanical steering systems for the next 50 years. In 1991, the company was bought by the German industrial steel producer Thyssenkrupp, and their joint venture was renamed to Thyssenkrupp Presta in 1997.

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During the two years preceding the Olympics, Thyssenkrupp Presta developed a new sled for its athletes, utilizing the skills of its experienced engineers to reduce friction on the sled and to design new chassis and rails. The new sled has increased structural flexibility and enhanced handling capabilities. All of the stainless steel and wood for the vehicle originated from the Rhine valley, close to Thyssenkrupp Presta’s TechCenter in Eschen, Liechtenstein. The project was led by Alex Meier, a veteran mechanical engineer from ThyssenKrupp Presta’s development center in Eschen, who traveled with the athletes to PyeongChang to observe the sled’s performance and to watch the athletes compete. In the competition, Eggert and Benecken were surpassed by their German teammates, plus a team from Austria, placing third overall. In addition to winning the bronze medal in doubles luge for Germany, the sled designed with Thyssenkrupp Presta also allowed Eggert and Benecken to set a new track record, recording the fastest time ever on the Olympic luge course in South Korea, finishing in just 46.722 seconds. Another sled designed by Thyssenkrupp Presta allowed the duo to win the Luge World Championship in Innsbruck, Austria, in 2017, speeding past their competition. The bronze-medal-winning version of the sled that was used in PyeongChang was the fourth version of the sled since Thyssenkrupp Presta began collaborating with the athletes in 2014.