Two-time Olympic champion luger Steffi Walter has died aged 54 ©Wikipedia

Two-time Olympic champion luger Steffi Walter has died aged 54 after losing her battle against cancer.

Martin, competing using her maiden name Martin, won women's singles titles for East Germany at back-to-back Winter Olympic Games.

Her first gold came at Sarajevo 1984 before she defended her crown in Calgary four years later.

She was also a double world champion, winning in 1983 in Lake Placid in the United States and in Oberhof in Germany in 1985.

In the 1983-84 season she won the International Luge Federation's (FIL) World Cup title.

Steffi Walter won the second of her Olympic gold medals at Calgary 1988 ©Getty Images
Steffi Walter won the second of her Olympic gold medals at Calgary 1988 ©Getty Images

At the European Championships, she won two silver medals in 1982 and 1986.

She was appointed as an honorary citizen of home town Lauter in 1998.

Walter leaves behind husband Gernot and three children.

"The International Luge Federation is in mourning for two-time Olympic Champion Steffi Walter," an FIL statement said.