Being a Luxembourger An Angel of the Mountain in the absence of

Being a Luxembourger
An Angel of the Mountain in the absence of gods of the stadium
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Luxembourg cannot really claim to have made its mark on the world stage of sport. Truth be
told, in nearly all sports disciplines, a magnifying glass is required to reveal traces of Luxembourgish representatives among the winners’ ranks. In fact, the only competition in which
Luxembourgers regularly mount the podium is the Games of the Small States of Europe, a
sporting event created in 1984 and reserved for nations with less than one million inhabitants.
Nevertheless, in the history of grand-ducal sport, one emblematic figure, renowned and
admired throughout the world, stands out: the cyclist Charly Gaul (1932-2005). He became
one of the first Luxembourg sportsmen to leave his mark on the world sporting stage, along
with the athlete Josy Barthel, Olympic champion in 1952. In their wake, other high-profile
sportsmen and sportswomen have also succeeded in carving out distinguished careers for
themselves, primarily in the individual disciplines.
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Nicolas Frantz, winner of the
1927 and 1928 Tour de France
Elsy Jacobs, first road cycling
world champion in 1958
Charly Gaul, Angel of the Mountain, battling against Raphaël Géminiani
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Winners of the Tour de France, stage victories and
wearers of the yellow jersey
Dubbed the ‘Angel of the Mountain’, Charly Gaul delighted thousands of spectators and
millions of television viewers with his heroic breakaways in the Alps and the Pyrenees
during the 1950s. In 1958, Charly Gaul was crowned winner of the most prestigious
event in cycling, the Tour de France. He was also the victor of ten stages of the Tour
between 1955 and 1961, and twice joined the ranks of winners of another great stage
race, the Tour of Italy, in both 1956 and 1959.
The Grand Duchy boasts two other Tour de France champions: François Faber (18871915), who in 1909 became the first non-French cyclist to win the race, and above all
Nicolas Frantz (1899-1985), winner of the 1927 and 1928 Tours, who to this day is the
last wearer of the leader’s yellow jersey from the very first to the very last stage. Nicolas
Frantz won a total of 20 Tour stages, one more than François Faber.
(1924-1994), Willy Kemp (b. 1925) and Jempy Schmitz (b. 1932). Arsène Mersch, Jean
Majerus, Jean Goldschmit and ‘Bim’ Diederich also donned the yellow jersey. Around
the same time, Luxembourg also took great pride in its top female cyclist: Elsy Jacobs
(1933-1998), who became the first road cycling world champion in 1958. Furthermore,
in track cycling, Lull Gillen (b. 1928) was crowned world vice champion in the individual pursuit in 1949 and was awarded the bronze medal on two occasions (1953 and
1954) before breaking the 5 km world record in 1955.
In 1966, Edy Schütz (b. 1941) won what was to be the last Luxembourgish stage victory
for forty years. From then on, cycling became an increasingly professional – and some
would say tarnished – sport and Luxembourgers became a rare sight in the peloton.
After 1984, which saw Lucien Didier (b. 1950) participate in his final race, a further
sixteen years went by before another Luxembourger took part in the Tour de France.
Josy Barthel, other figurehead of Luxembourgish sport
Until the late 1960s, Luxembourg was represented fairly well on the roads of the Tour,
as well as in the other classic races. Other Luxembourgish stage winners of the Tour de
France include François Neuens (1912-1985), Arsène Mersch (1913-1980), Jean Majerus
(1914-1983), Mathias Clemens (1915-2001), Jean ‘Bim’ Diederich (b. 1922), Jean Goldschmit
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During the early 2000s, a new generation of cyclists emerged, starting with Benoît
Joachim (b. 1976), who distinguished himself as the team mate of the American Lance
Armstrong, seven-time champion of the Tour de France. In 2004, Kim Kirchen (b. 1978)
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In 2002, Luxembourg City hosted the Grand Départ of the Tour de France. One of the big moments
of this event is always the introduction of the teams. The Luxembourg public was able to cheer one
of its own, Benoît Joachim (fifth to the left), member of the US Postal team and team mate of
American Lance Armstrong (first on left).
Frank Schleck at his victory of the Alpe d’Huez in 2006.
Even though numerous Luxembourg fans were on the spot,
they probably did not suspect the ‘red lion’ would take pride
of place in this queen stage of the Tour de France.
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secured sixth place at the Olympic Games in Athens. Two years later, Frank Schleck
(b. 1980) put an end to 40 years of shortfall by putting his signature to the first Luxembourgish stage win in the Tour de France since 1966. What’s more, he won the queen
stage of the 2006 Tour, which culminated in the ascent of the Alpe d’Huez. A few
months earlier, Frank Schleck had already secured victory in the Amstel Gold Race, a
prestigious Dutch classic that takes place earlier in the racing season. In the spring of
2007, Frank’s younger brother, Andy Schleck (b. 1985) went even a step further: securing second place in the Tour of Italy, the first stage race for him to participate in!
Next to Charly Gaul, the other figurehead of Luxembourgish sport was athlete Josy
Barthel (1927-1992), crowned Olympic 1,500 m champion in Helsinki in 1952. Not only
did he win gold, Josy Barthel also broke the Olympic record with a time of 3 minutes
and 45.20 seconds. Much like cycling, Luxembourg athletics then experienced a long
period of stagnation and it was not until 2006 that another Luxembourger mounted
the podium at a major athletics competition. At the European Championships in
Gothenburg – Scandinavia seems to suit Luxembourgish athletes – the young David
Fiegen (b. 1984) was awarded the silver medal in the 800 m event. This athlete had
already made an impression at junior competition level, finishing third at the 2002
World Junior Championships and second at the 2003 European Junior Championships.
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Luxembourg’s female athletes have always had to be content with occupying honorary
places at major sporting events. In 1988, marathon runner Danièle Kaber (b. 1960) finished in seventh place at the Olympic Games in Seoul, and this result was nevertheless
celebrated much like a world championship title. Twelve years later, Nancy Arendt
(b. 1969) performed almost as well by crossing the finish line in tenth place in the
Sydney Olympics triathlon. Since the early 2000s, hopes are pinned on another young
triathlete, Liz May (b. 1983), who already has gained two Under-23 European Champion­
ship bronze medals and one Junior World Championship bronze medal.
One male and two female tennis players in the top 100
Over the last ten years, several individual disciplines have seen Luxembourgish sportsmen and sportswomen adopt more professional training methods, with some opting
to complement their training by more or less extended stays abroad. This applies in
particular to Luxembourg’s tennis players, who have achieved very respectable results
since the late 1990s. Prior to then, practically no tennis player from the Grand Duchy,
male or female, had ever secured a place among the top 100 seeds in the world apart
from Karin Kschwendt (b. 1968), an Austrian national who donned Luxembourg’s colours
only at the beginning of her career, during the 1980s, before representing Germany and
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It was the Hereditary Grand Duke, Prince Jean, who presented Josy Barthel
with the gold medal during the Olympic Games in Helsinki in 1952
Since the early 2000s, triathlete Liz May
has been one of Luxembourg’s greatest
sporting hopes
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then Austria. Today, two female players and one male player occupy, or else have occu­
pied, a place among the top 100 seeds based on the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association)
and the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) rankings.
The first to make an impression at the highest level was Anne Kremer (b. 1975), who
launched her professional career during the mid-1990s. During the early 2000s, she
was even ranked among the world’s top 20 players. Not only did she win two professional circuit tournaments, but she also distinguished herself with victories against
players as reputable as Monica Seles, Arantxa Sánchez-Vicario and Mary Pierce.
Claudine Schaul (b. 1983), for her part, entered the top 50 WTA rankings in 2004, the
year in which she won her only victory so far in a WTA tournament, beating American
Lindsay Davenport in the final in Strasbourg.
As far as male tennis players go, the only Luxembourger to have occupied a spot among
the top 100 seeds in the world is Gilles Muller (b. 1983). His previous achievements include winning the World Junior Championships as well as the US Open in the same
category. Even though he has yet to win a senior tournament, he has nevertheless
reached the finals on two occasions. In addition, he can boast victories against some of
the circuit’s biggest names, such as Andre Agassi, Andy Roddick and Rafael Nadal.
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Mention must also be made of the fine results achieved by Luxembourgish teams in the
men’s Davis Cup and the women’s Fed Cup tournaments, the premier international
events of team tennis. Even if they have yet to compete in the elite World Group, Luxembourg appears during the mid-2000s to have established itself firmly in the ‘second
division’ (Group 1 of the Europe/Africa regional zone), in terms of both its male and
female players.
Football is no longer all the rage
The situation is a lot less bright when it comes to team sports. Let’s start with football,
which, along with cycling, remains the country’s most popular sport. With over 29,000
registered members, the Luxembourg Football Federation is by far the most important
in terms of numbers. The situation of the Luxembourgish clubs, however, is not overly
enviable. Indeed, the national championship appears to be losing its popularity. Whereas
until the 1970s, national division matches (at the highest level) and Luxembourg Cup
games often attracted thousands of supporters, this is a somewhat rare occurrence
these days.
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In a Euro 1996 qualifying match, the Luxembourg football team secured a victory
(1:0) against the Czech Republic in the last minutes of the game. At the time,
Paul Philipp (white jersey) was the national trainer. In the meantime, he has become
the president of the Football Federation.
In 1990, Luxembourg featuring Guy Hellers almost
managed to score a draw against Germany with its
Jürgen Klinsmann, then world champion (final score 3:2
for Germany). Back then, neither Hellers nor Klinsmann
could have imagined that one day they would both be
selectors in their respective countries.
Previously – until the mid-1990s – Luxembourgish clubs could pin their hopes on European Cup draws giving them a chance to encounter one of the great European clubs in
the first round and, consequently, to secure important takings. In the past, clubs such
as Jeunesse Esch, Avenir Beggen, Union Luxembourg, Spora Luxembourg, Stade Dudelange or Progrès Niederkorn have had the opportunity to face such renowned opponents
as Real Madrid, Liverpool FC, Bayern Munich, Olympique Marseille, Benfica Lisbon
and AC Milan. These days, however, the great Spanish, Italian, German, as well as English clubs are exempt from the first rounds and do not enter the competition until the
third qualifying round. For their part, to reach the third round, Luxembourgish clubs
must first make it through two qualifying rounds. Here, their adversaries tend to be
clubs representing Slovenia, Cyprus, Slovakia or Croatia, in other words clubs that do
not attract much of an audience but remain out of Luxembourgers’ reach on a sporting
level. To make it through two rounds and get the chance to meet one of ‘Europe’s greats’
has become somewhat of a mission impossible!
Some good moments for the national team
When it comes to national teams, the great nations have yet to enjoy the same ‘protected
status’ as their prestigious local clubs. As a result, the Luxembourgish national team
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In 1959, Jeunesse Esch had the formidable honour
of facing Real Madrid in the first round of the C1.
The score was harsh: 7:0 in the first leg, then 5:2
in favour of the Madrilenians in the return match.
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regularly gets the chance to meet impressive adversaries in the qualifying pools of the
World Cup or the European Championship. In terms of results, however, Luxembourg’s
list of achievements is unlikely to unnerve any of its opponents and the statistics mostly
speak for themselves. Between 1930 and 2006, the Grand Duchy took part in 104 World
Cup qualifying matches, resulting in 2 victories, 2 draws, 100 defeats, with the national
team scoring 50 and yielding 356 goals. Between 1960 and 2006, Luxembourg played
80 European Championship qualifying matches, resulting in 4 victories, 8 draws,
68 defeats, with 33 scored and 236 yielded goals.
In view of these figures – for which all manner of excuses can and have been made – it
may be better to remember the happier moments of Luxembourgish football, starting
with the 1962-1964 European Championship, in which Luxembourg reached the
quarter-­finals. At the time, the tournament did not feature a qualifying round and the
grand-ducal team was pitted against The Netherlands in the round before the quarterfinals. Not only did Luxembourg manage to draw (1:1) in Amsterdam in the first leg,
but it eliminated the Dutch in the return match in Luxembourg by winning 2:1. In the
quarter-finals, the Grand Duchy drew twice against Denmark (3:3 and 2:2) before
finally bowing out of the tournament after losing the decisive match by the smallest of
margins (1:0). Over thirty years later, the Luxembourgish team once again achieved
a good performance. Even though it failed to qualify for the final phase of the 1996
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In 2004, Anne Kremer (near the net) and Claudine Schaul (in the
background) entered the doubles at the Athens Olympic Games
Gilles Muller can claim victories against big
stars such as Andre Agassi, Andy Roddick and
Rafael Nadal
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European Championship, it achieved an excellent result in the qualifying rounds with
a draw against Belarus, two victories against Malta and, most significantly, a 1:0 victory
against the Czech Republic! To put this feat into perspective, it should be noted that the
very same Czech Republic became vice champion of Europe one year later.
Despite the mediocre performances of the clubs and the national team, Luxembourgish
football can lay claim to a few individual players who have succeeded in pursuing careers with professional clubs abroad. Players such as Victor Nurenberg (b. 1930),
François ‘Bitzi’ Konter (b. 1935), Louis Pilot (b. 1940), Nico Braun (b. 1950), Paul Philipp
(b. 1950), Roby Langers (b. 1960), Guy Hellers (b. 1964) and Jeff Strasser (b. 1974) have
sported, among others, the colours of Standard Liège, Sporting Anderlecht, Sporting
Charleroi, Schalke 04, FC Kaiserslautern, Borussia Mönchengladbach, FC Metz, OGC
Nice and Racing Strasbourg.
Top competitors in less publicised disciplines
Despite a few professional players, Luxembourg is decidedly not home to the gods
of the stadium. This also applies to other team sports, which have never produced a
great star or enjoyed resounding success. Furthermore, the popularity of sports such as
handball, volleyball or basketball can never aspire to rival that of football and membership numbers of these federations are considerably lower.
It has to be said, however, that since the 1990s, basketball is experiencing an impressive wave of renewed popularity. Member numbers have almost doubled in just over a
decade and it is particularly among the young that basketball is all the rage. Luxembourgish basketball presents itself as an attractive and fun sport and the matches are
great spectacles. It is evident that this sport appeals to the public and an event such as
the Luxembourg Cup finals has been known to attract more than 5,000 spectators.
(In comparison, the Luxembourg Football Cup final did not draw in even half that
number in 2006). In addition, the basketball federation has established an ambitious
programme aiming to improve the performance of the national team.
Despite the overall rather modest results in the leading sports, Luxembourg does boast
some top competitors in the less publicised disciplines. For instance, during the 1950s,
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Marc Girardelli is considered one of
the best all-round skiers of all times
Fonsy Grethen undoubtedly has the most
Luxembourg sport victories to his credit
Aged 43, Xia Lian Ni secured the silver medal at the European
Championships of 2007. A Luxembourg citizen since 2000, she
will be returning to her home ground for the 2008 Olympic Games,
which will be taking place in Beijing.
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the national fencing team for a long time ranked among the top six nations in world
fencing and fencer Jean Link was crowned world junior vice champion in both
1958 and 1959. Luxembourgish skittle players regularly stand out in major international championships and Luxembourg’s Skittle Players Federation has approximately
3,300 members, including several world champions. The most recent to date is Steve
Blasen (b. 1973) who in 2007 in Oberthal (Germany) defended the title that he had won
four years earlier in Worriken (Belgium). The title of world champion has also been
bestowed a total of four times on billiards player Fonsy Grethen (b. 1960), who was also
crowned champion of Europe 14 times. For her part, Sylvie Hülsemann (b. 1944) was a
two-time world champion and nine-time European champion in water skiing. Another
discipline, which Luxembourgers have often excelled in, is powerlifting. Finally, let us
not forget the excellent performances of Luxembourg’s karate experts, led by Tessy
Scholtes (b. 1981), who was awarded the silver medal at the 2002 World Championships.
Girardelli, Bénichou and… ‘Schumi’
Some truly great foreign champions have also pursued all or part of their careers under
Luxembourgish licence. The most renowned is four-time world champion alpine skier
Marc Girardelli (b. 1963). Originally from Austria, he applied for a Luxembourgish
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licence in 1976. Even though he went on to represent the Grand Duchy in all the competitions he took part in, it was not until 1987 that he became a Luxembourgish citizen.
Marc Girardelli also won five world cups, four world champion titles and two silver
medals at the Olympic Games.
For various reasons, other foreign sportsmen/sportswomen followed Marc Girardelli’s
example and opted, at one or the other stage of their career, for a Luxembourgish
licence. This was the case for French boxer Fabrice Bénichou (b. 1966) during the
1980s. He was crowned world champion three times and European champion six times.
More recently, Chinese table tennis player Xia Lian Ni (b. 1963) also chose to represent
the Grand Duchy. A world and European champion several times over, she became a
Luxem­bourgish citizen in 2000.
While this is anecdotal, it can nevertheless be mentioned that seven-time Formula One
world champion Michael Schumacher attended his very first competitions under Luxembourgish licence. At the age of 12, the boy who was to become ‘Schumi’ made his
karting debut in a Luxembourgish club. It was not until he was 14 that he obtained a
German licence.
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In 2006, David Fiegen was awarded
the silver medal for the 800 m at the
European Championships in Gothenburg
Above and right // Luxembourg basketball is all the rage.
The national finals have turned into real spectacles,
attracting thousands of sporting fans each year.
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Nothing left to prove on an organisational level
In conclusion, it is clear that Luxembourg’s sportsmen and sportswomen have made
enormous progress over the course of the last decades. In the individual disciplines,
they have embraced the move towards professionalism and first results have proved
them right. The team sports, in particular football and basketball, are also undergoing
structural development. Federations now have training centres where young people
can practice their sport without neglecting their studies. The best among them also bene­
fit from customised training and spells abroad. Nevertheless, it will undoubtedly be a
while before we witness a Luxembourgish team clinch a European or world title.
The annual Tour de Luxembourg, for its part, has also been welcoming big cycling
names since 1936. Not to mention the fact that Luxembourg has twice already been the
starting point of the Tour de France – also called the Grand Départ – both in 1989 and
2002, and that the country has hosted a total of nine stage arrivals of the Tour between
1947 and 2006. Recently, the Grand Duchy also hosted, for the first time, a major
international football competition: the final phase of the 2006 European Under-17
Championship.
Text: Manu Aruldoss
There is one domain, however, in which Luxembourg no longer needs to prove anything to anyone: the organisation of major sporting events. The size of the country
obviously means it does not possess the necessary infrastructure to host major events
such as the Olympic Games or the Football World Cup. Nevertheless, the Grand Duchy
regularly organises significant competitions in various disciplines.
Ever since 1996, an important annual women’s tennis tournament, the ‘Fortis Cham­
pion­ships’, reunites some of the circuit’s greatest stars. The winners of this tournament
include Belgium’s Kim Clijsters, France’s Mary Pierce and America’s Jennifer Capriati.
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