All six Olympic disciplines scheduled in Altenberg for the first time in pre-Olympic winter

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Altenberg (RWH): Opening World Cup event for bobsleigh athletes and mid-way point in the skeleton: When the 2024/25 IBSF World Cup tour stops in Altenberg (GER), it will be the first World Cup event in this pre-Olympic season to feature all six disciplines in which athletes will battle it out for Olympic medals at the upcoming 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Games.

Altenberg will host the fourth World Cup race for athletes competing in the women’s and men’s skeleton, meaning their season has already reached the half-way point. For the first time this winter, the IBSF World Cup event will also include the skeleton mixed team race, an event which will celebrate its Olympic debut on the new Eugenio Monti Olympic Track in Cortina. The pre-Olympic World Cup season in the women’s monobob, 2-woman bobsleigh, 2-man bobsleigh and 4-man bobsleigh will start in Altenberg.

Up-to-date start times (local time at the track and the user’s local time) are listed on the IBSF website.

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World Cup preview for the skeleton

After November’s Asia-based races – two races in PyeongChang (KOR) and one in Yanqing (CHN) – Altenberg will host the fourth race of the season for skeleton athletes. So, by the end of Friday’s World Cup action, we will already know which athletes are topping the standings at the half-way point of the pre-Olympic season. To round off Skeleton Friday, the mixed team event will celebrate its season premiere from 5 p.m. ahead of its debut Olympic appearance in Cortina in 2026.

So far in the 2024/25 IBSF World Cup season, there have been three different winners in the women’s skeleton. The UK’s Amelia Coltman and Freya Tarbit and China’s Dan Zhao have all celebrated their first victories in the racing series. Freya Tarbit will arrive in Altenberg as the current World Cup leader.

As the host team, Germany are certainly among the favourites to do well on their home track – despite the absence of record-breaking World Champion Tina Hermann, who retired from the sport before the start of the season. With two second-place finishes, Olympic Champion Hannah Neise is Germany’s best female skeleton athlete at the moment and ranks second in the overall standings. Last season, she finished third at the race in Altenberg.

In the men’s skeleton, the Olympic and World Champion Christopher Grotheer (GER) has started the 2024/25 IBSF World Cup season with a hat-trick. Altenberg has also been the backdrop for two of the 32-year-old’s three World Championship wins to date. However, Team GB are sure to fancy their chances at the fourth World Cup race of the season, too. European Champion Marcus Wyatt and defending World Cup title holder Matt Weston, who are currently second and third respectively in the overall standings, have achieved five podium finishes between them over the first three World Cup races of the season. And last but not least, local hero Axel Jungk is hoping for a better result after admitting that he was disappointed after finishing in ninth, 16th and ninth in PyeongChang and Yanqing. The Olympic silver medallist can look forward to support from his rather large fan club at his home club in Altenberg. >> Infosheet Skeleton Mixed Team + reaction start

World Cup preview for the bobsleigh

A total of 22 women’s monobobs, 20 2-woman bobsleigh teams, 21 2-man bobsleigh teams and 17 4-man bobsleigh teams from 15 different countries have registered to compete in the World Cup races at Altenberg’s sliding track. This means that 80 sleds will be on the starting line for the opening bobsleigh events of the 2024/25 IBSF World Cup season.

It’s no secret that the home team is among the favourites: With no changes to the team since last winter, Germany’s successful pilots will all be starting the pre-Olympic season in Altenberg, led by World Champion Francesco Friedrich (2-man and 4-man bobsleigh) and the World Champions Laura Nolte (women’s monobob) and Lisa Buckwitz (2-woman bobsleigh).

However, Team USA’s experienced female bobsleigh athletes have also been successful in Altenberg in recent years: Kaillie Humphries (USA), who plans to celebrate her bobsleigh comeback at the World Cup opener following the birth of her first child, secured three of her five World Championship titles in Altenberg and has finished on the podium in all of her eleven World Cup appearances here, including eight victories. Her US team-mate Elana Meyers Taylor has also finished on the World Cup podium in Altenberg multiple times, winning the 2-woman bobsleigh World Cup race here in 2015.

In the men’s events, Kim Jinsu of Korea finished in third place in the 2-man bobsleigh race here last year. Latvia’s Emils Cipulis, who drew with Francesco Friedrich at the last 4-man bobsleigh World Cup race in Altenberg to share first place, retired from the sport at the end of last season, as did Simon Friedli of Switzerland, who finished third here last season.

On the sidelines

The Olympic and World Champion Francesco Friedrich now has one of the fastest German sprinters on his push team in the form of Simon Wulff (GER). With a personal best of 10.06 seconds over 100 metres, the elite athlete said goodbye to the world of sprinting in Dresden over the summer and will instead be firing up the four-time Olympic Champion’s push team in future – his first assignment will be to appear in the 2-man bobsleigh at the World Cup opener in Altenberg. Simon Wulff’s personal best currently puts him in third place in the list of fastest Germans. Measuring 2.02 metres and weighing in at 106 kg, the 23-year-old is the ideal candidate for a bobsleigh brakeman. In 2019, Wulff won the European Championship title in the 4x100-metre relay. At the start of the 2024/25 season, Simon Wulff finished second in the German 2-man bobsleigh championships with Youth Olympic Champion Alexander Czudaj. According to a report from his home club Dresdner SC, Simon Wulff is due to carry on gaining experience on the sliding track as part of Team Czudaj as well as racing with Francesco Friedrich. The goal for Team Czudaj is to qualify for the Junior World Championships (15 + 16 February 2025 in Altenberg, GER).  ©RWH2024

Dan Zhao (CHN) made sporting history at the IBSF World Cup in Yanqing. The 21-year-old became China’s first female athlete to secure a victory in the women’s skeleton World Cup after winning on her home track. Images of her victorious run down the sliding track and the excited finish-line celebrations of her fellow competitors from around the world went viral in her home country. Shortly after the race had ended, the content had become a hot topic on China’s social media channels, as reported by TwoTenEight, an agency who works for the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation IBSF. ©RWH2024

Olympic and World Champion in the 2-woman bobsleigh Kaillie Humphries (USA) will be making her comeback at the IBSF World Cup in Altenberg – half a year after giving birth to her son Aulden. With five World Championship titles – four in the 2-woman bobsleigh and one in the monobob – the 39-year-old holds the record for World Championship wins. She secured three of her titles in Altenberg. At her five Winter Olympic appearances to date – 2006 as a spare brakewoman, 2010, 2014, 2018 and 2022 – she has won three golds and one bronze. In the season before her maternity leave (2022/2023), Kaillie Humphries was the overall World Cup winner in the monobob and also won the inaugural title in the combined 2-woman bobsleigh and monobob standings.©RWH2024

Lolo Jones (USA), who became the 2021 World Champion in the 2-woman bobsleigh in Altenberg, is back on the US bobsleigh team. After a three-year break, the 42-year-old is back among the push athlete contingent for USA Bobsled & Skeleton (USABS). In 2021, Lolo Jones won World Championship gold in the 2-woman bobsleigh in Altenberg (GER) with Kaillie Humphries. According to a press release about her appointment to the team from USABS, she is likely to make her comeback in 2025 ahead of the World Championships on her home track in Lake Placid (USA). The former sprinter was the Indoor World Champion in the 100-metre hurdles in 2008 and 2010 and also finished fourth in the 100-metre hurdles at the 2012 Olympics in London. At the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi (RUS), she finished eleventh as the brakewoman for Jazmine Fenlator Victorian. This makes her one of the very few female athletes from around the world who have competed in both the summer and winter Olympics. ©RWH2024

Photo: IBSF / Viesturs Lacis