World Champion Max Langenhan Wins Olympic Gold In Cortina
2026 Winter Olympics in Milan Cortina: Germany's Max Langenhan wins Olympic gold ahead of Austria's Jonas Müller and Italy's Dominik Fischnaller
Cortina (FIL/08 Feb 2026) Luge World Champion Max Langenhan confidently crowned himself Olympic Champion in the men's singles with four track records in four runs and a total time of 3:31.191 minutes. This is the German's first Olympic medal. In Beijing 2022, he finished sixth.
After the race, Langenhan admitted: “I was a little tense during the first three runs, but then I enjoyed the fourth.” Langenhan stood on the podium at every World Cup this season, but did not win any of them. Head coach Patric Leitner describes the new Olympic champion as “cool as a cucumber.” Langenhan was very moved after the medal ceremony with the medal around his neck: “This thing is crazy heavy. I would like to break the medal into a thousand pieces and give some to everyone who accompanied me on the way to this victory. So many of these people, my first coaches and my first sponsors, were here today, which makes this day very special.”
Langenhan succeeds his former teammate Johannes Ludwig, who won gold four years ago in Beijing. It was the twelfth victory for a German luger in 17 Winter Olympics since 1964.
Langenhan was particularly handicapped in the first two runs. “I have quite a lot of pain in my neck,” he revealed on Saturday, “I woke up in the night and thought I wouldn't be able to compete. But our medical department worked on my neck for six hours, so it was reasonably okay.”
The silver medal went to Jonas Müller. The 28-year-old Austrian was 0.596 seconds behind Langenhan. A small consolation for Müller: in the third run, he set a start record of 3.482 seconds. Müller summed up the competition with the words: “I was quite relaxed, not nervous at all.” He also slept well the night before. He added: “This medal is not just for me, but for the whole team and especially for the coaches, who did a great job. This is a medal for the whole of Austria.”
Third place and the bronze medal went to Italy's Dominik Fischnaller. He was 0.934 seconds behind. “I felt very comfortable on the track from the first run,” said Fischnaller, referring to his home advantage, “but I also have 200 more runs than the others.” Armin Zöggeler, two-time Olympic champion and current sports director of the Italian luge team, said: "It's great to start these Games with a bronze medal. That takes the pressure off the whole team."
Latvia's Kristers Aparjods came in fourth. After a weaker third run, in which he only achieved the seventh-best time, the podium was out of reach for the 27-year-old. He finished 1.421 seconds behind. Austria's Nico Gleirscher came in fifth. The brother of David Gleirscher, 2018 Olympic champion in Pyeongchang, was 1.781 seconds slower than winner Langenhan.
Felix Loch, who leads the overall World Cup standings, was able to work his way up from ninth place to sixth place in the results list after a completely botched first run. His deficit: 1.860 seconds. His performance confirmed what he had said before the competition: “You need four near-perfect runs, four good starts – then anything is possible in the end.” But because of a poor start, he was unable to influence the outcome.
The exciting decision in the men's competition not only drew thousands of spectators to the new ice track at the Cortina Sliding Center, but also thrilled leading statesmen. German President Frank Walter Steinmeier was then able to congratulate Max Langenhan on his gold medal at the German House. Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker had been there at the track to cheer on his compatriot Müller. And Kristers Aparjods was supported by Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics.
