Seldom before the head coach of the German bobsleigh athletes had so much praise for his proteges after such a chaotic preparation. In any case, the coach’s relief was clearly visible and noticeable. "That got on everyone’s nerves. The way the athletes dealt with these circumstances and pulled themselves together was very good," said Langen after the Riesa crew was only beaten by the dominating Swiss Beat Hefti and Thomas Lampater.
Immediately after the World Cup in St. Moritz, the team had traveled to Sochi to get to know the new track. But what they found was partly unworthy of the Olympics. "Training was postponed or cancelled altogether because they couldn’t or didn’t want to open the sun awnings. We were sometimes at the track for up to eight hours without anything happening. The only ones who were completely relaxed were the Russians. But the international bobsleigh family showed a lot of solidarity and got the world federation to make sure that the track was also properly prepared for training," reported Langen.
His proteges also had a hard time with the ice snake. "At the beginning I didn’t like the track at all. But little by little it got better. My competition rides were the best rides here, so I am looking optimistically towards the Olympics", said Florschutz. He had a considerable start gap to Hefti, but he made up a lot in the track. "I was the fastest in both runs in the track, which is a very good sign. At least the material is right," added Florschutz.
"One got through, that’s how it has to be," Langen emphasized. Especially since Manuel Machata finished eighth in the day and third overall in the World Cup. Only world champion Francesco Friedrich, who this time drove with Marko Hubenbecker, did not get along at all. Already in the first run he made many mistakes, which threw him back hopelessly. In the end, the young champion from Oberbarenburg finished tenth.