They win and win and win: Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt remain loyal to tobogganing. The six-time Olympic champions even dream of the 2026 Games.
The two 36-year-old tobogganing veterans Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt will continue their careers for another year and are even considering another Olympic campaign. “We’ll leave that open. We’ll look from season to season. Let’s see how the summer goes, how the training goes,” says Tobias Wendl.
At the just ended Luge World Championships in Altenberg, the highly decorated duo won doubles bronze after a strong comeback. As always, the now ten-time world champions were a reliable factor in the team relay’s gold triumph.
Six times Olympic gold
“In the second run we had the best starting time. That means we’re not biologically the oldest yet. As long as it’s going well and we’re having fun, we’ll keep going,” says Wendl, who won six Olympic gold medals with colleague Arlt.
No other German Winter Olympian has been at the top of the podium at the Games as often as Wendl or Arlt. This puts them on a par with their tobogganing colleague Natalie Geisenberger, who, in addition to her six gold medals, also won a bronze one. Compared to Geisenberger, however, they are still active.
Successful coach resigns
The new national coach Patric Leitner, himself a doubles Olympic champion, is now playing into the duo’s hands. The 46-year-old will succeed successful coach Norbert Loch (61) after the season.
“Norbert has been with us all our lives. We have won everything with him, gone through ups and downs. But at some point every era comes to an end. We can only thank you for the great time,” said Wendl and said: ” Nevertheless, we are looking forward to the new national coach. That is one more reason for us to stick around for another year.”