Record-breaking World Champion Tatjana Hüfner bids farewell with a silver medal

Sochi (RWH) At the tender age of 20, Tatjana Hüfner was almost a complete unknown when she won the silver medal at the International Luge Federation’s (FIL) 2004 European Championships in Oberhof. Now – 15 years later – the record-breaking World Champion and 2010 Olympic Champion has brought her unparalleled career to an end with yet another silver medal, quite befittingly at another European Championship race in Oberhof.

“This rounds everything off very nicely for me,” said Tatjana Hüfner, who was visibly moved. And when a big screen streamed a selection of images from the many highlights of her career, the normally stoic athlete even shed a few tears. As she has emphasized many times in the past, she is not one for feeling wistful or melancholic. “In my case, the overwhelming feeling is gratitude. I’m grateful for everything I have been lucky enough to achieve and experience – including all the peaks and troughs. They’re part and parcel of it, too. They’ve shaped who I am today.”

The German athlete has won every title going in the world of luge: With six World Championship titles, she holds a record number of wins in the event. She also owns a full set of Olympic medals (gold in 2010, silver in 2014 and bronze in 2006). The 35-year-old has also won the overall Viessmann World Cup on five occasions and finally completed her collection of titles when she won European Championship gold in 2016. However, she will also be remembered for her fourth-place finish in PyeongChang (KOR). With a fourth Olympic medal within her grasp, she dropped from second to fourth in the fourth heat, though just a mere seven hundredths of a second behind the bronze medal place.

In future, the professional soldier will be found in the town of St. Augustin near Bonn. After studying childcare, Tatjana Hüfner will now start the next stage of her career as a child care assistant in the German army. However, before that, she still has to compete in the season finale to the Viessmann World Cup in Sochi, Russia. After winning European Championship silver in Oberhof, the thought of skipping the trip to Russia never even crossed her mind. “When I set my mind on doing something, then I always stick it out to the end.”