Sochi (pps) It seems easier to become an Olympic Champion than being one. Felix Loch knows a thing or two about it – after all, the 24-year-old German luger already claimed his second Olympic gold medal at the Winter Games in Sochi, Russia after the one in Vancouver in 2010.

Right after his last run that put him ahead of Russia’s Albert Demchenko and Armin Zoeggeler of Italy, the stress started: first the Flower Ceremony, then innumerable TV interviews and finally the obligatory press conference. “I’ll be on a sled for some years to come,” said the four-time World Champion. “It surely wasn’t my last race,” the new double Olympic Champion from Germany explained. On the other hand, neither 42-year-old Demchenko nor Zoeggler (aged 40) wanted to give a statement about a possible end to their sporting careers.

After the press conference the trio went through the anti-doping controls. The old and new Olympic gold medal winner, however, then revealed a weakness because Loch had to be “kept in”. “The first sample was too thin for the doctors,” explained Germany’s team physician Dr. Christopher Szopko. “Before giving a second sample a 45-minute long waiting period is mandatory“. It was only afterwards that the police officer was able to embrace his girl-friend Lisa-Marie Ressle at the “Kufenstüberl”.

After a very short night Loch then paid a visit to the morning show of a German TV station, followed by a press conference with the German team. In the afternoon it was time to say goodbye: “Lisa has to return home and work,” said Loch who accompanied his girlfriend to the airport. In the evening, the official Victory Ceremony carried out by IOC Member Mario Pescante (Italy) at the Medal Plaza and a visit to the TV studio were on Loch’s program.

Armin Zoeggeler, for his part, is already quite used to these “Olympic medal tours”. The 2002 and 2006 Olympic Champion, who claimed a silver medal at the 1998 Games in Nagano (Japan), has secured his third bronze medal after 1994 and 2010 at the Olympics in Sochi. Zoeggeler celebrated his success at the “Casa Italia”.