Barbara Niedernhuber

Barbara Niedernhuber (nicknamed Babsi, born 6 June 1974 in Berchtesgaden) is a German luger who competed from 1994 to 2006. She won two silver medals in the women's singles event at the Winter Olympics (1998 (she was beaten by 2 thousandths of a second by her teammate, Silke Kraushaar), 2002). A favorite to make the 2006 Winter Olympics, she was upset at the national championships by Tatjana Hüfner in late 2005.

Niedernhuber also won seven medals at the FIL World Luge Championships with one gold (Mixed team: 2004), four silvers (Women's singles: 1999, 2000, 2004, 2005), and two bronzes (Women's singles: 2001, 2003). She also won three bronze medals in the women's singles event at the FIL European Luge Championships (2000, 2002, 2006).

Niedernhuber won the overall Luge World Cup title in women's singles in 2004–05.

Niedernhuber retired abruptly before the start of the 2006–07 World Cup season due to a bacterial infection in her ankle joint that developed after surgery during the summer of 2006.

Cultural references

 * In The Simpsons episode "The Bart of War", Milhouse mentions he feels "like luge silver medalist Barbara Niedernhuber" while riding Flanders' video cart.