From the tartan track to the ice channel
The two meet for the first time in Winterberg. Nolte is already in love with the sport of bobsleigh and is looking for a brakewoman. An athletics coach speaks out in favor of Levi – and when the two meet “it clicked right away”, says Nolte. Levi switches from the tartan track to the ice track. It’s the beginning of a wonderful and successful friendship that you can see and feel in the “Generation F” documentary.
In bobsleigh you screw yourself
Since the 2018/19 season, Nolte and Levi have been spending several hours together every day. A bobsleigh season usually starts in October and ends in March. The athletes are only at home for Christmas. Screwing, hauling, training, it’s an intense time that both spend as a team. “During training, the two often stand there for several hours because they are refining some settings.”says national bobsleigh coach René Spies.
Setbacks make Nolte/Levi stronger
At the World Championships in Altenberg 2020, the athletes experience a severe setback for the first time. Deborah Levi misses World Cup after contracting influenza Without her friend and brakewoman, Laura Nolte faces one of the most demanding routes of all. Nolte crashes in the curve at over 100 km/h and has a hard time nibbling on the experience. “I disappointed everyone”, says Nolte in the “Generation F” documentary. It’s Levi who takes her friend’s mind off things during this difficult time.
Pretty best friends: Nolte and Levi race to Bob-Gold
Two years later, at the Winter Olympics in Beijing, both athletes push and ride each other intoxicated. They are the fastest in each of the four rounds – and race to gold. This team is now the youngest among all previous bobsleigh Olympic champions. In the “Generation F” documentary, the viewers accompany the two exceptional athletes and friends in the season of their lives.
Nolte: “We went through everything together”
“I’m just so grateful that I also got to know Laura as a friend. It’s just so nice that the gold medal is added to the friendship,” says Levi, and as with people who just ride on the same wavelength, Nolte completes: “We went through everything together, went through ups and downs, always stayed together and in the end it just paid off.”.