Finn Sonnekalb had a few reasons to celebrate last weekend in Salt Lake City: personal best times, Olympic qualification, his first World Cup podium finish, a German record and a junior world record. All of this happened in just two days in the Utah desert. But none of this really comes as a surprise.
Finn Sonnekalb sat in the center of the ice at the Utah Olympic Oval and had to wait. After he ran the second best time of the day in the sixth of ten pairs over his parade route of 1,500 meters in 1:41.33 minutes, eight other competitors took to the track – including miracle runner Jordan Stolz. And the American was the only one who was faster than the 18-year-old from Erfurt. Everyone else bit their teeth on his time. When the two Dutchmen Tim Prins and Joep Wennemars were also slower than Sonnekalb in the last pair, all the tension fell away from him. He covered his face with his hands, hugged everyone he came across and was finally able to be even more happy.
The German speed skater Finn Sonnekalb (r.) comes third at the Speed Skating World Cup in Salt Lake City behind Jordan Stolz (m.) and Zhongyan Ning (l.)
Sonnekalb’s achievements awaken desires
Because after his run, Sonnekalb threw up his hands and shouted his cheers into the hall. His time was not only a personal best, it was also a German record and also the fastest time that a junior has ever run over this route. Now he took third place – his first podium at a World Cup. “I expected the world record because yesterday was a good day for me“, says Sonnekalb confidently: “But I never thought I would win a medal.”
The day before, he had already started the winter with fifth place in the 1,000 meters – also the German best time, which also helped him qualify for the Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina-d’Ampezzo. For them he is now the great German hope and arouses desire.
The attention of one Olympic champion
Things haven’t been going really well for the German Speed Skating and Short Track Association (DESG) lately. Instead of sporting successes, the association made headlines off the ice. Patrick Beckert’s last German World Cup medal was five years ago, and the last Olympic medal was another ten years ago. In 2010, Anni Friesinger-Postma was among those at the top of the podium. The three-time Olympic champion and 16-time world champion is already a big fan of Germany’s new shooting star. “Look at this talent. Finn Sonnekalb is currently running into everyone’s hearts!!“, said the 48-year-old Bavarian.
It has become increasingly clear in recent years that the 1.93 meter tall model athlete has the potential to become a great in his sport. Rows of gold medals at youth championships, plus three titles (500 m, 1,500 m, mass start) at the 2024 Youth Olympic Winter Games in South Korea and three world championship titles (1,000 m, 1,500 m and all-around) at the Junior World Championships at the beginning of February this year. On his debut in the World Cup shortly afterwards, he won the B group straight away.
Sonnekalb wants even more
And the youngster wants more, because there’s one thing he’s not good at: losing. “Every time I’m on the track I want to win. I’m a competitive guy“He recently said in an SID interview. That could be his big plus. He has this “The urge to just be better than anyone. That’s what drives me. I don’t want to say that anyone is faster“With this attitude, he not only spreads optimism in the association, Friesinger-Postma also sees German speed skating.”back“.
Strong German weekend in the USA
But it’s not just the new junior world record holder who gives hope for a good season for the German speed skating team. On the ice of the 2002 Olympic city, others were also moving very quickly in its slipstream. Felix Maly, who like Sonnekalb trains in Erfurt, made it onto the podium in the mass start and came second. There was also the direct Olympic ticket. Previously, two German records were set in the team pursuit. Josie Hofmann, Josephine Schlörb and Lea Sophie Scholz beat the old best time from 2005 by almost two seconds with their fourth place in 2:54.38 minutes. In the men’s race, Patrick Beckert, Maly and Fridtjof Petzold won the B group race in 3:39.17 minutes, 1.33 seconds faster than the previous twelve-year record. The success also led to promotion to the A group.
All of these results give rise to hope for the season highlight in Italy. Germany’s speed skaters are still in fifth place in the all-time Olympic medal table. The last ones were at the 2010 Olympics – a total of four. In addition to the gold medal from Friesinger-Postma, Daniela Anschütz-Thoms, Stephanie Beckert and Katrin Mattscherodt in the team pursuit, Beckert also won two silver medals over 3,000 and 5,000 meters. Jenny Wolf also secured second place in the 500 meters. After that, from a German perspective, there was a drought in the result lists at the Winter Games. Maybe 16 years later there will finally be reason to celebrate again.