Translate to English “It’s unbelievable that a plan like this works like this”

Cortina. The last dance is his most beautiful – and above all, the most successful. Johannes Lochner, who has been second for a long time, has already won the Olympic victory in the two-man bobsleigh, and at the end of the Winter Games he followed that up with an equally confident triumph in the premier class of four-man bobsleigh. And once again he pushes long-time bobsleigh dominator Francesco Friedrich into second place by a large margin.

“It’s unbelievable that a plan like this worked out like this – on my last load. I still can’t believe it, and it will take forever until I realize it properly,” says the 35-year-old from Königssee and repeatedly hugs his pushers Thorsten Margis, Jörn Wenzel and Georg Fleischhauer. “This is a dream that has been playing out in my head for two years. And now it is true. This is a moment for eternity,” says Lochner, visibly moved. It’s a true Bob fairy tale.

Lochner is undoubtedly the bobsleigh king of Cortina – and with double gold he now belongs to an elite circle. He is the seventh bobsleigh pilot in the almost century-old Olympic history of his sport to win both the two-man and four-man events at the Winter Games within just a few days. Most recently, Francesco Friedrich managed to do this twice in a row – whom Lochner dethroned in Cortina.

The long-time bobsleigh dominator from Pirna, pushed by Matthias Sommer, Alexander Schüller and Felix Straub, once again finished in second place with an unexpectedly significant gap, as in a pair. And Friedrich is then, as in the twosome, the first to congratulate; at the emotional award ceremony with the backdrop of the Dolomites, he symbolically takes off his cap to Lochner and his team.

“It was a tough fight, a tough year. And we are happy to go home with silver,” says Friedrich. While the 35-year-old from Pirna will probably continue his career for at least a year (“It’s a difficult decision, maybe four more years”), Lochner is definitely over. And it couldn’t have gone much better. “It’s the most perfect ending ever,” says Lochner.

The traditionally last Olympic decision before the final men’s ice hockey final is actually historic. After all, it’s not just Lochner’s last dance, according to the print on his fan club’s T-shirts. Pusher Margis also quits – and as the most successful Olympic bobsledder. The 36-year-old has now won five gold medals, four of them with Friedrich.

“It couldn’t feel better. I’m standing here now with the fifth gold, and it’s time I can stop,” says Margis. The Swiss secured third place with pilot Michael Vogt. With a furious final run, they pushed the third German pilot Adam Ammour and his team out of third place by 0.04 seconds. The rejoicing about this is no less great on the Cortina ice track.

Ultimately, the Cortina result is historic for the German Bobsleigh and Sled Association (BSD), which also includes tobogganing and skeleton. The last time there were a sensational 16 medals was four years ago in Beijing; nine to eleven medals was the goal agreed with the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) for Cortina.

In the end there were 19 medals, including six Olympic victories. To put it into perspective: The German team won a total of 26 medals at these Winter Games: eight gold, ten silver and eight bronze.

In every decision in the ice track there was at least one medal, often two. Just like on Saturday evening in the women’s two-man bobsleigh, when Laura Nolte/Deborah Levi and Lisa Buckwitz/Nele Schuten took first and second place. It was particularly satisfying for Nolte, who won the Olympics with Levi in ​​2022. In the monobob, she was in the lead before the last run and was defeated by 40-year-old American Kaillie Humphries Armbruster by 0.04 seconds.

Now the new bobsleigh dominator – unlike Lochner – is even postponing the planned end of her career. “We actually wanted to stop in 2026. I think we both changed our minds a little bit. The journey isn’t over yet. It’s just a lot of fun and it’s going so well,” says Nolte – virtually representative of the entire association.