For many teams this would be a success, but the German men are used to different results and probably were not really happy with this. However, the team has seen several changes, with the biggest one, the departure of Coach Frank Ullrich still to come after this season. These changes started after the last Olympic Winter Games in Torino. Their five-medal haul, made those Games  the most successful Olympics ever for a German men’s team.  Afterwards, Sven Fischer and Ricco Groß both retired.

Winning Medals

“We won’t be as successful again as we were in Torino; I simply can’t imagine that. That was a top result, we were on a high and everything just fell into place. Still, we will be able to win some medals,” thinks Ullrich ahead of the Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver.

Olympic Focus

He openly admits that his focus is completely on the Olympics. “This year, there’s only the Olympics,“ and the goal for this season is to be successful at the Olympic Winter Games.” The preparations went well and according to plan. The German men kept the two training groups, one in Oberhof with Mark Kirchner as coach and one in Ruhpolding headed by Remo Krug. All of the athletes got together for the training camps, just like the current one in Muonio, Finland, where the men met for the on-snow training.

Training Goes Smoothly

“Everything has been going well up here. Michi, who had problems with his injury (knee) for a long time, is fit again and the snow training is better for him anyways. He could already catch up to the others quite well…The World Championships in September also went really well, for one or the other on a really high level, some of the others needed to be built up a little,” Ullrich explained.

If this buildup was successful, it will be seen at the first World Cups,” explained Ullrich. “The World Cups of course are important as well, to see where we are at, for the Olympic qualifying and we also have to improve our performance there, step by step, in order to be successful at the Olympic Winter Games.”

Just like he has done during the last few years Ullrich relies more and more on the young athletes for this goal. Thus, he decided to let eight athletes go to Östersund for the first World Cup. Both, Christoph Knie and Simon Schempp will be able to compete. Greis, Andreas Birnbacher, Michael Rösch, Alexander Wolf, Christoph Stephan and the surprise-winner of the Sprint in Khanty-Mansiysk last season Arnd Peiffer got their tickets to Östersund a while ago.

Relying on Younger Athletes

This shows a good balance of veterans and young athletes on the team. The youngsters showed at the end of last season that Germany has no lack of young blood pushing up. But Ullrich wants to avoid too much pressure. “People expect you to repeat your success. Also, a successful athlete has to invest more, besides his training; he is more in demand by the fans and the media, has more to do…But if they feel pressure, they put the pressure on themselves and it is our responsibility to reduce it.”

In order to give the young athletes the opportunity to go to the Olympics with a somewhat carefree attitude, the goals for the veterans and the young athletes are different. “A spot near the top can be a huge success for a young athlete, it is not necessary for them to win a medal. But for the older ones a medal is the goal, no question.”

Good Future

Successful Olympic Winter Games might be the short term goal, though, but Ullrich thinks long-term, despite parting with the team soon. “After the Olympics it’s not over yet, we should not forget that, and after the Olympics is before the Olympics as well. When I hand over the team next year I want it to work well together, it should be a team with a good future ahead of it that can be very successful in the future.”