World Cup dominator Max Langenhan wishes Felix Loch a World Championship medal

World Cup dominator Max Langenhan wishes Felix Loch a World Championship medal. "In the end, it would be cool if we both had a medal hanging around our necks," said the 24-year-old ahead of the luge world championships in Altenberg, which begin with the sprint races on Friday. "That would be the biggest goal." At the home World Championships in Oberhof a year ago, there were eight victories in the nine competitions. Langenhan finished second in the men's singles behind Austria's Jonas Müller. The 34-year-old Loch missed out on a medal, but had previously won the sprint competition.

Langenhan said of the three-time Olympic champion that Loch, who had been weakening recently, had recovered. "He has super good training results. He's definitely just as strong as he's usually been at the season's peak. He is a force to be reckoned with. You can never write him off."

Langenhan can win a lot in Altenberg, but he would rather win the World Championships on Saturday than on Friday. "In the end, of course, what counts is this title, which you can also win at the Olympics. It's simply the single-seater title. The sprint doesn't yet exist at the Olympics," said Langenhan. The men's single-seater with two runs will be held on Saturday in the Sachsen-Energie-Eiskanal, the World Championships will end on Sunday with the team relay.

But Langenhan doesn't want to talk about titles. "A medal is the goal. Everything else is on top," said Langenhan. He has now put his first defeat in the World Cup at the European Championships in Innsbruck behind him. "Of course it wasn't nice," he said. One reason for the end of the series after ten victories was that he didn't know the track in Austria that well.

In Altenberg, on the other hand, Langenhan has completed "definitely 70, 80 runs" this season. But he doesn't want to put himself under pressure. "The very first thing you expect from yourself is good races. If that's the case, I can't blame myself."