Olympic champion Hannah Neise (Winterberg) and individual world champion Christopher Grotheer (Oberhof) won gold in the mixed team at the Skeleton World Championships in Winterberg on Saturday evening.
Jacqueline Pfeifer (Olsberg) and Axel Jungk (Oberbärenburg) also secured the bronze medal, while silver went to individual vice world champion Matt Weston and Tabitha Stoecker from Great Britain.
Being double world champion is “a great feeling,” said Grotheer, who also set a new record with his seventh world title (three in singles, four in the team). With this success, the Olympic champion in Beijing overtook Latvian Martins Dukurs, who, however, won all six individual titles.
“Incredible, outstanding, not to be expected,” was the conclusion of national coach Christian Baude after the successful conclusion of the World Cup weekend, in which his protégés won a total of four medals.
“I would never have believed that we could be so successful in Winterberg,” said Baude: “Those were just a great three days.”
“Really great atmosphere” at the Skeleton World Championships
Local hero Neise had already won bronze the day before and once again described her home track as having a “really great atmosphere” in the final race.
The mixed team event was only on the World Cup program for the fourth time, and victory always went to Germany. Unlike in the individual races, in which the skeletonis themselves decide when to start, in the mixed team they have to react to a visual signal, so false starts are also possible.
In Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, the format will also be part of the program for the first time at the Winter Olympics in 2026.