Toboggan Olympic champion Johannes Ludwig ends his sporting career. The 36-year-old has now announced this.
“In the past 30 years, almost every day was determined by skating and demanded great deprivation from me, but also from my family environment. In the course of my career, I have learned that stamina and confidence in one’s own abilities are particularly important elements in competitive sports for success,” Ludwig said in a personal statement.
Ludwig started tobogganing at the age of six, but only made it into the national team when he was 20. “He was a late starter,” said his former coach Thomas Schwab, the current sports director in the bobsleigh and luge association for Germany.
The police chief celebrated the first of his ten World Cup victories in singles at the end of November 2016 in Winterberg. He had previously finished third at the 2013 World Championships in Whistler and second at the 2014 European Championships in Sigulda, Latvia. Because of his enormous arm strength and his excellent start times, he is also called “Dynamite Hannes”.
Ludwig had saved the great successes for the end of his career. At the Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang in 2018, he surprisingly came third in the individual and team relay Olympic champion, crowned his career with individual and team gold at the Olympic Winter Games in Beijing. He also secured the overall World Cup for the first time last season.