On the evening of February 10, as the German team won the team relay event, the sled competition of the Beijing Winter Olympics came to an end. In the four minor competitions, the German team, which won four gold medals, showed its super strong status, and the Chinese team participated in the bobsleigh competition of the Winter Olympics for the first time showed the hope of Chinese bobsleigh sports.
On February 10, Latvian player Roberts Plum celebrated after reaching the finish line. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Jiang Wenyao
Since the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck became an official event, almost all gold medals in the Bobsleigh Event at the Winter Olympics have been won by Germany, Austria and Italy. At the Beijing Winter Olympics, although the Russian Olympic Committee team and Latvian bobsleigh players continued to challenge these three strong teams, they still failed in the end, allowing this trend to continue.
The first gold medal was the men's single bobsleigh, and the 2021/2022 World Cup winner Johannes Ludwig relied on steady performance to overwhelm many opponents to reach the championship podium. Despite winning the title, the gap between him and second-place Austrian Player Wolfgang Kindle was minimal.
Italy's Dominique Fischnerer was at the tournament on Feb. 6. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Sun Fei
The runner-up in the project, Italian bobsledder Dominique Fischner, not only filled the regret of not winning the podium at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, but his steady performance and home advantage at the 2026 Winter Olympics made it possible that the now 28-year-old bobsledman could recast the glory of the legendary Italian bobsled athlete Amin Zogler four years later.
On the women's side, Natalie Geisenberg achieved a three-game sleigh title in Beijing. Compared with the relative weakness of the men's bobsleigh, the talent reserve of the women's bobsleigh German team is very sufficient from the perspective of this Beijing Winter Olympics. Although Julia Taubitz ultimately failed to reach the podium due to a serious mistake, her good competitive form in the first round of skating and her previous championship at the Bobsleigh World Cup have proved that the Women's Bobsleigh team will continue to be very competitive in the future of Germany.
Julia Taubitz's biggest rival in the women's singles bobsleigh is Austria's Madeleine Aigle, a 23-year-old who made the same mistakes as Taubitz in the official race, and chased her all the way to fourth in the next four rounds. The Austrian team she led also lost to Germany only by a slight disadvantage in the team relay competition, and its technical strength can be seen. In the future, the competition between these two athletes may become the main theme of the world's women's sleigh.
Madeleine Aigler of Austria competes on February 7. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Yao Jianfeng
After finishing second in the World Cup, latvia's Hicks brothers once again folded their arms at the Beijing Winter Olympics and failed to stand on the podium, which may be the last dance of the brothers who participated in the five Winter Olympics. However, even after successfully winning the double sled, the relatively old age allowed the German team to face the constant onslaught of the Austrian team led by Thomas Stoy/Lorenz Koehler in the future.
The team relay race, which reflects the comprehensive strength of the bobsleigh, was also won by the German team this time, which is also the third consecutive time that this event has been won by the German team after entering the Winter Olympics. However, it is believed that with the aging of this group of sledders active in the German team, the situation of the dragon competition is likely to appear in 4 years.
On February 9, China's Huang Yebo and Peng Junyue competed in the competition. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Sun Fei
The Chinese team, which participated in the bobsleigh event of the Winter Olympics for the first time, fully demonstrated its good competitive state in the 9-day training and competition. Fan Duoyao, Wang Peixuan, Huang Yebo and Peng Junyue all skated their best results in the "Snow Dragon", and almost every round of skating results was better than the previous round, which was not easy for the first bobsleigh athletes in the mainland.
From the formation of the national training team in 2015 to the 12th place in the team relay today, the rapid progress of the competition level of Chinese bobsleigh athletes has shown the world the bright prospects of Chinese bobsleigh.
Reporters | Wu Kunpeng, Yao Youming, Zhang Xiao