Another relay gold for Team Germany

2026 Winter Olympics in Milan Cortina Luge Team Relay

Cortina (FIL/12 Feb 2026) The German team has once again won the Olympic team relay, as it did in Sochi in 2014, Pyeongchang in 2018, and Beijing in 2022.

At the Cortina Sliding Center, Julia Taubitz, Tobias Wendl, Tobias Arlt, Max Langenhan, Dajana Eitberger, and Magdalena Matschina improved the track record to 3:41.627 minutes in their start-to-finish victory.

At the finish line, all six high-fived each other and shouted: “We are a team.” National coach Patric Leitner had nothing to complain about: “Unbelievable, no mistakes, no wobbles. That was a great finish.” For him, the experience of his athletes was decisive: “All the athletes who competed have already won Olympic medals and become world champions. They know what it's like to be at the top in the end.”

For the duo Wendl/Arlt, it was their seventh gold medal after the bronze medal in the team doubles. This makes the 38-year-old doubles specialists the most successful Olympic lugers of all time. “A week ago, I wouldn't have thought we'd be going home with two medals,” said Wendl, “but now we know what the sled can do and we're accelerating even on the downhill section of the track.”

The Austrian team won silver with Lisa Schulte, Thomas Steu/Wolfgang Kindl, Jonas Müller, and Selina Egle/Lara Kipp. They improved their old track record from 3:42.536 minutes to 3:42.214 minutes, but the German sextet was 0.542 seconds faster in their triumphant run. Lisa Schulte, the only athlete who had not yet won an Olympic medal, said: “It means so much to me, I am extremely happy and very grateful to my teammates that we won this silver medal together today.”

After a golden Wednesday with victories for both doubles teams, Italy took bronze with Verena Hofer, Emanuel Rieder, and Simon Kainzwaldner, Dominik Fischnaller, Andrea Vötter, and Marion Oberhofer. They finished 0.849 seconds behind.

Latvia secured fourth place with Elina Bota, Martins Bots/Roberts Plume, Kristers Aparjods, Marta Robezniece/Kitija Bogdanova, 1.077 seconds behind. They were followed by the US team (Ashley Farquharson, Marcus Mueller/Ansel Haugsjaa, Jonathan Gustafson, Chevonne Forgan/Sophia Kirkby – 1.104).

The lugers from Ukraine (Yulianna Tunytska, Ihor Hoi/Nazarii, Andriy Mandziy, Olena Stetskiv/Oleksandra Mokh) were particularly pleased with their sixth place, finishing 4.502 seconds behind.