The 2025/26 season has a special highlight. Olympic champions are sought in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo.
The winter sports season 2024/25 has hardly ended, when the view goes to the upcoming highlight of the coming winter. In Italy, the very large stage is already being prepared for winter athletes. The Olympic Games will take place in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo from February 6th to 22nd. Where are the German athletes ten months before the opening ceremony?
Biathlon: Prussia can put the cherry on the career cake
At the end of the season one shone above all: Franziska Preuss. The 31-year-old was involved in four of the five German medals at the World Cup in the Swiss Lenzerheide and won the overall World Cup for the first time. The next destination is the name of the Olympics. “Definitely, there is still the year“, the Bavarian said for athletic future planning. So far, Preuss has only been able to celebrate Olympic bronze with the season at the 2022 season in Beijing. Olympic single metal would be the absolute crowning glory of her career.
Behind her, the young people Selina Grotian (20) and Julia Tannheimer (19) showed appealing services. The DSV ski hunters, on the other hand, are in a low. WM bronze in the season was also thanks to happy circumstances, they disappointed individually-and should hardly benefit from the resignations of the Bö-Brüder (Norway).
Bob: Strong team around recordman Friedrich and Nolte
Double world champion Francesco Friedrich and two-person world champion Laura Nolte were the faces of the title fights in Lake Placid. Johannes Lochner, Lisa Buckwitz, Kim Kalicki and Adam Ammour also flew home with a medal. After nine out of twelve possible podium placements, there is probably no way around the German team in the Olympic ice channel, although the ice rink in Cortina is unknown. The medals only seem to be awarded in Monobob – the German team does not enjoy a material advantage here.
Curling: Ticket not yet solved
After the sensational win of the European Championship last November, the curling men have good cards to solve the Olympic ticket at the World Cup in Moose Jaw (March 29 to April 29 to April 6) and to be back in winter games after twelve years. That alone would be a success. At the World Cup, the Germans have to become at least eighth, then they would be at the Olympics. If this does not succeed, there will be two tickets at another tournament in December.
The women have already missed the qualification.
Ice hockey: As an outsider
Leon Draisaitl is a superstar in the NHL, but he alone does not make Germany a medal candidate in Milan, where the best of the best will be on the ice again for the first time since 2014. This is very different at the World Cup in May. The German women who play their world champions in April are also outsiders.
Figure skating: Couple run can put on top duo
The great hopes rest on the pair run: the European champion Minerva-Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin have established themselves as top duo. After the World Cup in Boston, the duo travels as vice world champion. – However, Volodin still needs a German passport. The egg dance couple Jennifer Janse van Rensburg and Benjamin Steffan are also there. The duo reached the minimum goal at the World Cup and got a quota place. However, they are not a podium candidate. In the other disciplines, the medals are probably awarded without German participation.
Ice skating/shorttrack: Fast runners wanted
The speed of ice cream has been lagging behind the world tip for a long time. A positive trend can be seen in the width in the DEG, but medals are not to be expected. At the single-distance World Cup in Hamar, the team tracking of women with fourth place ensured a success. The Erfurt Talent Finn Sonnkalb could provide a surprise. The 17-year-old won three races at the 2024 youth Olympia and won three gold at the Junior World Cup this year.
The figurehead is missing in the shorttrack after Anna Seidel’s career end.
Nordic combination: top man Geiger is progressing
The prospects for the German combiners are not only the best because of the resignation of Norway superstar Jarl Magnus Riiber. Because the Oberstdorfer Vinzenz Geiger has recommended itself as a World Cup overall winner for Olympic precious metal. The women around overall World Cup winner Nathalie Armbruster, on the other hand, have to continue to wait for their Olympic premiere.
Tobogganing: Langenhan and Co on quick runners
In the past season, the Austrians had long caught a wax release in the ice channel, but Max Langenhan and Co. were on top level in time for the highlight of the season: double victory in one of the men and women at the World Cup, plus gold among the men’s double-seaters and in the team season. The overall World Cup in one ultimately went to the world champions Langenhan and Julia Taubitz. Thus, some medals can also be expected in the ice channel from Cortina.
Skeleton: Not quite sophisticated on the way
The only sled that causes problems from a German perspective. The Beijing Olympic champion Christopher Grotheer and Hannah Neise disappointed at the World Cup in Lake Placid across the board. Only Axel Jungk won a medal with bronze. There will be room for improvement in the coming winter.
Ski Alpin: Only a few iron in the fire
Germany has a great hope of hope: Emma Aicher convinced at the World Cup, then she won her first two World Cup races. The 21-year-old will be the German ski fans “Prepare a lot of joy“, Prophecy Ex-Ski Ass Felix Neureuther. Aicher’s big plus is her Swedish coolness.”It can handle pressure situations extremely well“, says Neureuther. Slalom specialist Linus Straßer, who prevented a zero round at the World Cup at the World Cup. As third, he had shown that he was ready to the point. Lena Dürr can otherwise count as a podium.
Ski mountaineering: New Hopeful at the start
The “Ski Mountainering” is new to the Olympic program – with the disciplines sprint and mixed relay. This is too late for Anton Palzer (32): from 2015 to 2021 he won five World Cup and EM medals- and then became a cycling professional. Tatjana Paller (29) went the reverse way: cyclist until 2020, since then ski mountain climber. At the World Cup in February she won bronze in the Sprint discipline. Finn Hösch (22) became world champion in the sprint in 2023.
Ski Freestyle/Freeski: Realistic Medal dreams
Thanks to Daniela Maier and Florian Wilmsmann, who narrowly missed the overall World CP victory, the Skicrossers experienced a successful World Cup season. At the World Cup, Maier (bronze) and surprisingly Tobias Müller (silver) also cleared medals. In the other disciplines, it looks largely dark, hopeful Muriel Mohr only recently tore the cruciate ligament in training.
Ski run: DSV women give hope
Twelve medal decisions are made at the cross -country skiing on Olympics. The DSV can only hope for women in the season and in the team sprint on precious metal. Although, Coletta Rydzek, her first World Cup victory took a look at the end of the season. And Victoria Carl underpinned her entire class as a complete World Cup. “Overall, almost all girls have taken one step forward”said national coach Peter Schlickenrieder at the Sportschau microphone.
Ski jumping: World -class performance available
The German ski eagles were looking for the consistency this winter. The two -time Olympic champion Andreas Wellinger once again demonstrated that he can be the man for the big decisions – that he took the Ski World Cup with silver from the normal hill.
According to Katharina Schmid, who keeps her career open, the women now have another world -class pringer with Selina Freitag. That is why there could be something in the mixed team.
Snowboard: precious metal is in there
The Alpine Ramona Hofmeister won six single races in the World Cup, but missed the desired crystal balls and World Cup medals. For this, Stefan Baumeister jumped into the breach with silver. In the freestyle area, Annika Morgan, Noah Vicktor and Christoph Lechner are part of the world leaders, also with the crosso around Leon Ulbricht and Martin Nörl.
Source: Red/Sid