Germany’s skeleton team wants to confirm the strong Olympic record in Beijing in the World Cup winter. The focus is primarily on old heroes. A world champion has missed the World Cup ticket.
At the Olympics in Beijing, the German sleds experienced a real medal rush in the ice channel. Not only the tobogganists and bobsledders triumphed, the skeletonists also won two Olympic gold medals for the first time.
This was also surprising for the athletes themselves: “I didn’t know that at all“, says Olympic champion Hannah Neise. “I didn’t really win anything before. In total I’ve won three competitions in my career and the Olympics was the fourth.“
Susanne Kreher surprisingly prevails against Jacqueline Lölling
Therefore, after the strongest Olympic Winter Games ever, a season of confirmation begins for the German skeleton team. The 22-year-old Neise, for example, will then be competing in North America for the first time, where the season begins at the end of November. “The first world cups are on tracks where I have never been. So I’m pretty relaxed about the whole thing.“
She’s seeded in the team, which also benefited her because she was slowed down in preparation by problems with the patella tendon. The German champion Tina Hermann and Susanne Kreher secured the other places among the women. The latter surprisingly prevailed against the former world champion Jacqueline Lölling, “a very close race in the fall“That was it, emphasized the national skeleton coach Christian Baude at the opening press conference on Friday (11/11/2022).
Tina Hermann travels to Canada with good memories
He is also certain that Kreher and Neise will quickly get to know the new railways overseas: “We have enough opportunities to train there. With twelve rides you should get a good handle on the train.“At least Hermann has the heavy train in whistler/Canada, where the season starts on November 24th, very good memories. In 2019 she became world champion there. In total, she has already won gold at the World Championships seven times.
Grotheer and Jungk get Keisinger to the side
The skeleton men were even able to win two Olympic medals in Beijing: Gold man Christopher Grotheer and second place Axel Jungk have also secured their place in the World Cup – and are striving for further successes. Felix Keisinger, who “with three wins in three races has clearly shown that he is number one from the rest is,” says Baude.
One of those races was the German championship title, which the 24-year-old climber from Berchtesgaden secured thanks to his good starting times. “It’s really overwhelming, especially after a very difficult year that I’ve had. I struggled a lot with myself, after Beijing I didn’t get back on track at all“, he said.
Skeleton legend Martins Dukurs has retired
“After I slowly fought my way out of the hole, I developed mononucleosis and that brought me down again.But then he got fit in time and showed his dominance in the elimination races against the veteran Alexander Gassner and Lukas Nydegger.
Incidentally, while the Germans were forming their team, a skeleton legend resigned after the Winter Games. The eleven-time overall World Cup winner Martins Dukurs from Latvia ended his career.
Highlight: World Championships in January 2023 in St. Moritz – Jungk “hungry“
Therefore, the reigning world champion and Olympic champion Grotheer should now be the hunted among men. Unlike Jungk, who wants to step out of his shadow and finally win his first major individual title this season. “I’m definitely still hungry for that. St. Moritz is a great track, that’s something special.“
At the end of January 2023, the World Cup will take place in the traditional Swiss winter sports resort. The demands on the German skeletonists may have increased after the successful winter games, but Baude believes that the start of the winter now falls “Definitely easier. The pressure was there before.”