The new slide at the Milan/Cortina Olympics has been controversial, but the German team aims to turn it into another Olympic gold mine.
German athletes have a long history of success in bobsleigh, luge and bobsleigh, and the teams could help the country reach the top three in the medal tally as Olympic officials envision it.
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Germany ranks second behind Norway with 12 gold medals, 10 silver medals and 5 bronze medals at the 2022 Bergin Olympics. The skating team won a total of 16 medals, including 9 gold medals, 6 silver medals and 1 bronze medal.
The sliding team is once again primed for more Olympic history, but there are hopes of other medals as well.
sled team
Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt defended their 100% record as they aimed for their fourth consecutive double bobsled/relay gold, adding to their eighth career gold medal in eight starts at four Winter Olympics.
“If everything comes together, we are in good shape,” they said recently after winning the 60th World Cup in Oberhof.
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Only three athletes have won eight gold medals at the Winter Olympics so far: Norwegian cross-country skiers Marit Bjørgen and Bjørn Dæhlie, and biathlete Ole Einar Bjørndalen.
In the men’s luge event, Felix Locke also won the men’s luge event in Oberhof and was looking for a fourth career gold medal in his fifth race. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been this good in a game,” he said.
Jacqueline Pfeiffer, skeleton
Victory in the Altenburg World Cup final further boosted the 2018 silver medalist’s confidence. Pfeiffer also won his first race at Cortina and said “I will go into the Olympics with a good feeling.”
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bobsleigh team
Francesco Friedrich is a record world champion and made Olympic history by winning back-to-back doubles and quadruples in 2018 and 2022. A three-peat would only further cement his greatness, but he will likely be replaced by fellow German Johannes Lochner, who won the World Cup in both events. The third German team led by Adam Ammour, which has recently won two events, cannot be ignored either.
Gold in the women’s event could also be a German affair, with Laura Nolte, the favorite in the single and tandem women’s events, taking gold in 2022. “It doesn’t hurt that I accepted the role as the most popular one. We’ve done that a lot over the years,” she says confidently.
Emma Eicher, alpine skiing
The 22-year-old is rising among the alpine skiing elite as one of the few true all-around athletes. Eicher has a season win each in the downhill and super-G and two podium finishes in the slalom, making her a strong contender in all three events.
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Ramona Hofmeister, snowboard
Hofmeister won a bronze medal at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics and is a four-time World Cup winner in parallel events. Her status was unknown after a broken ankle, but two successive World Cup victories have made her the biggest challenger to Czech legend Ester Ledecka.
Vinzenz Geiger, Nordic Blend
Germany has a long history of success in the paired sports of ski jumping and cross-country skiing. Geiger, the 2022 World Cup gold medalist and defending champion, has returned to form in time for the Olympics and poses a serious threat to rivals in Austria and Norway.
Minerva Hase and Nikita Volodin, figure skating
German figure skating medals are rare, but world championship silver medalists Haas and Volodin are strong contenders for gold. However, to get on the podium, they will have to shake off some inconsistency from their recent European Championships, where they also finished second.
