Preview: Germany aims for sliding sweep as Felix Loch eyes "home" Olympics

BERLIN, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- Three-time Olympic luge gold medalist Felix Loch is counting down the days to the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics with a sense of homecoming.

"To have the Olympics right at your front door triggers special feelings for me," the 36-year-old German said. "Family and friends can be around, and I am dreaming of the moment of waking up in the morning and looking at the Dolomites."

After two editions in Asia, in Pyeongchang in 2018 and Beijing in 2022, the Winter Olympics are returning home from his perspective.

"When you have grown up in the German Alpine region, and all of your family is and has always been dedicated to my sport, you feel like this," Loch said, after moving to Schonau at the Konigssee near the Austrian border at age 3.

Germany is sending the largest Winter Olympic team in its history, with 189 athletes, underscoring its self-image as a leading winter sports nation. Loch will again anchor one of its most successful units: the bobsled, luge and skeleton squad.

"We are and will remain a winter sport nation, and we want to be successful," said Olaf Tabor, head of the German Olympic Sports Confederation and chef de mission.

"Our medal potential is high. I see it close to the Beijing Games, maybe even greater," the official said, recalling Germany's 27 medals there, 12 golds, 10 silvers and five bronzes.

Nine golds, six silvers and one bronze from the Yanqing Sliding Center alone accounted for nearly 60 percent of Germany's total in 2022. Tabor said he would like to match that haul in Milan-Cortina. Germany finished second in the medal table behind Norway and ahead of China last time, but he admitted "it's a challenge to get there as other nations have caught up."

Even so, the size and depth of the German team raise expectations. "We address them with self-confidence," Tabor said.

The Cortina sliding track is viewed in Germany as "a possible golden slope," with bobsled stars Francesco Friedrich and Johannes Lochner, lugers Tobias Wendl, Tobias Arlt, Max Langenhan and Loch himself again tipped for the podium. On the Alpine slopes, Emma Aicher and Linus Strasser are also among the medal hopefuls.

Meanwhile, bobsledders Laura Nolte and Lisa Buckwitz, and lugers Julia Taubitz and Merle Frabel, are all targeting medals, while skeleton champion Christopher Grotheer is aiming to defend his Beijing gold.

Although current dips in ski jumping and biathlon temper expectations, Germany still sees opportunities in relay events.

In freestyle skiing and snowboarding, the return of Ramona Hofmeister has boosted expectations. After suffering an injury last September, the 29-year-old made a successful comeback in early January and has already secured two parallel giant slalom World Cup victories. In ski cross, Daniela Maier, currently ranked second overall in the World Cup standings, and Florian Wilmsmann are also regarded as realistic podium contenders.

Nordic combined remains one of Germany's most reliable strengths and traditionally places the country among the top two nations worldwide, typically alongside Norway. Over recent seasons, several German athletes, including Julian Schmid, Johannes Rydzek and Vinzenz Geiger, have consistently ranked near the top of World Cup standings. Combined with Germany's traditionally stable ski jumping base, Schmid and Geiger in particular are widely viewed as strong medal candidates in Milan-Cortina.

Germany also has reasons for optimism on the ice. In figure skating, pairs team Minerva-Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin, world championship silver medalists and reigning European champions, are seen as credible medal contenders. In speed skating, 18-year-old Finn Sonnekalb is regarded as a rising talent with the potential to deliver Germany's first Olympic speed skating medal since 2010.

Curling remains uncertain: Germany still trails traditional powers such as Sweden, Scotland, Switzerland and Canada, with a semifinal berth a realistic target for the men's team, while women's and mixed doubles results will depend heavily on form and the draw.

Germany's first medal in Milan-Cortina could come as early as the opening day in the men's normal hill ski jumping event, while the four-man bobsled may once again provide a golden finale shortly before the closing ceremony. ■