Four-time Olympic bobsleigh champion Thorsten Margis is not starting the gold medal project in Cortina d'Ampezzo with his long-time pilot Francesco Friedrich, but with German competitor Johannes Lochner. After a season off, the 35-year-old pusher has now started preparing for the 2026 Winter Games in the team of Olympic silver medallist Lochner from Berchtesgaden.
"We're not working here to win a medal. No, we want to win gold and become Olympic champions - nothing else! And that's also a realistic goal, because it's feasible to beat Franz," said ten-time world champion Margis in an interview with the German Bobsleigh and Luge Federation (BSD).
His mental strength in particular should help the team from Bavaria against the showpiece pilot from Saxony. "With Hansi, it was always just not enough, and then the start times often got slower instead of faster from run to run. And these are things that you have to get under control," said Margis, relying above all on Lochner's driving skills: "He's already put me and Franz under a lot of pressure in Beijing 2022, he's always been brutally fast and good."
Margis is aiming for Olympic gold in both disciplines
While record world champion Friedrich is also considered a perfectionist thanks to his two Olympic doubles in 2018 and 2022 and checks every detail several times, Lochner is more focused on fun and driving pleasure. "If you do this project - and that has to be in everyone's head in the team - then we want to win gold in both disciplines," said Margis and also wants to support Lochner's regular pusher in the two-man bobsleigh, Georg Fleischhauer.
After all, the duo won the small sled against Friedrich at the 2023 World Championships in St. Moritz. "My personal goal right now is to get on the sled and be on it for sure," said Margis, looking ahead to the four-man bobsleigh, where he will be competing against Fleischhauer as well as push athletes Florian Bauer, Erec Bruckert and Jörn Wenzel.
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