Winter sports day of German successes: Aicher wins, Wendl/Arlt take European Championship gold – Morgan and Grotian meet Olympic standards

This winter sports Sunday sends several reliable signals from a German perspective towards the Winter Games: a victory in the Alpine World Cup, a European Championship title in luge, podium finishes in Nordic combined and snowboarding – and above all, two fulfilled Olympic standards, which often count more in the internal competition for squad places than a "decent" result. Many decisions are made in the details: hundredths in the ice channel, a mistake in the second run, three penalty loops at the shooting range.

The focus is on Emma Aicher's Super-G triumph in Tarvisio, the fifth European Championship title for Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt in Oberhof, as well as the standard achievements of Selina Grotian (biathlon) and Annika Morgan (freestyle snowboarding). In addition, there was a narrowly missed victory by Johannes Lochner in the four-man bobsleigh and further top German placements across the disciplines.

Aicher sets the exclamation mark of the day in Tarvisio

Emma Aicher delivers the German highlight in the Alpine sector in Italian Tarvisio. The 22-year-old wins the Super-G with the best time. Lindsey Vonn follows in second place, 0.37 seconds behind, Ester Ledecka comes third. Kira Weidle-Winkelmann underlines the solid team result in eighth place.

The timing is remarkable: just a few days after her exit in the Flachau slalom, Aicher provides the sporting answer. In the Super-G, line, rhythm, and risk matched – a victory that not only brings points but also sharpens self-confidence: in a discipline where mistakes are often only punished by hundredths at the finish, she had the most stable combination of attack and control on this day.

Ruhpolding brings Grotian the standard – Nawrath has speed, but too many penalty loops

In the women's biathlon pursuit in Ruhpolding, Lou Jeanmonnot wins ahead of Hanna Öberg and Camille Bened. From a German perspective, Selina Grotian comes into focus: with 13th place, she fulfills the second half of the Olympic standard. Such standards are essentially sporting proof under competition conditions – those who meet them increase their planning security for the nomination phase and relieve themselves of internal selection pressure, which can last until shortly before the Games.

Franziska Preuß finishes seventh as the best German. A penalty loop in the last shooting takes away her realistic chance to attack for the top three. "The feelings are mixed," says Preuß – a sentence that gets to the heart of the pursuit: four shooting bouts can turn a race that is going well on skis in seconds.

For the men, this interaction becomes visible. Philipp Nawrath is the fourth fastest on skis – but three penalty loops prevent him from moving forward. In the end, he is the best German in tenth place. "If you start with a mistake, you feel like you're just chasing," says Nawrath. At least he manages a clean shoot in the final bout: "Finishing with a zero is at least a good ending."

Nawrath's result is thus twofold: the skiing data confirm the form for high loads – but at the shooting range, the basis was missing to convert the speed into a result. This is exactly where it is decided in this phase of the season who is not only "fast" but also competitive for major championships.

Wendl and Arlt crown themselves again – Lochner narrowly misses victory

Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt win the European Championship title in the doubles for the fifth time in Oberhof. It is their first European Championship title since 2019 – and at the same time the 59th World Cup victory of their career. "Unbelievable. I am speechless," says Wendl. Arlt highlights the conditions in Oberhof: "The atmosphere was incredible, really beautiful." Behind the emotion stands a sporting finding: Wendl/Arlt continue to deliver under pressure and stabilize a season in which the competition has become noticeably closer.

The success also counts towards the overall standings. After six of nine doubles races, Wendl and Arlt lead with 466 points ahead of Gatt/Schöpf (384). Eggert/Müller are fourth with 359 points, Orlamünder/Gubitz are ninth with 234. The European Championship title is thus more than a single result – it fits into a consistently strong series that gains weight towards the season's highlights.

In bobsleigh, Johannes Lochner in Altenberg misses victory in the four-man by just 0.02 seconds. In the last four-man World Cup race of his career, he finishes second behind Adam Ammour, Francesco Friedrich completes the German triple podium with a 0.15-second deficit. The deciding factor is a mistake by Lochner shortly before the finish in the second run. "I'm just happy, it's been an awesome journey so far," says the two-man overall World Cup winner, who had already secured the overall World Cup in the two-man on Saturday. The message remains clear despite the missed victory: the form is there – in the ice channel, sometimes a single moment decides between first and second place.

Podium finishes in Oberhof and strong comeback from Morgan

In Nordic combined, Julian Schmid achieves a strong comeback to the World Cup in Oberhof, fighting his way up to third place. Johannes Rydzek is seventh, Vinzenz Geiger places 23rd and 11th over the weekend. Especially with Geiger it becomes clear: if meters are missing on the hill, the running work becomes damage limitation – and podium chances quickly become a matter of calculation. Schmid, Rydzek, and Geiger have already fulfilled the internal Olympic standard, which takes the pressure off the coming weeks in the fight for starting places and allows for targeted form management.

Nathalie Armbruster also confirms her line in Oberhof: after second place the day before, she is third this time behind Ida Marie Hagen and Minja Korhonen. For Hagen, it is the 25th victory in the individual World Cup. Armbruster thus sets a sporting sign after her disqualification last weekend – not with a grand gesture, but with a stable result in direct comparison.

In snowboarding, Ramona Hofmeister finishes third in the parallel giant slalom in Bansko, thus achieving her second podium in two days after her victory on Saturday. A mistake in the semifinals costs her the chance for another success, but the performance remains a clear signal: anyone who quickly returns to the medal fight after a comeback not only has the technique but also regains the competition feeling in time. Among the men, Yannik Angenend finishes fourth again, just missing the podium as the day before.

The performance of Annika Morgan at the Laax Open was followed particularly closely. About one and a half months after breaking her hand, she finishes sixth in slopestyle and thus fulfills the Olympic requirement at her only chance – a top-8 finish was required. Morgan had suffered a fracture of the third metacarpal bone during training at the beginning of December and had undergone surgery. "I didn't think I would ride so well after the injury break. Now I'm just hungry for the Olympic Games," says Morgan. National coach Michael Dammert praises her performance under difficult wind conditions: "She did it super confidently. To come back from an injury and present yourself here under these conditions – we as a team are very proud of that."

Other solid German results round off the day: Katharina Hennig Dotzler finishes eighth in Oberhof over ten kilometers classic – her best result of the season. After 25:15.2 minutes, she is 8.1 seconds short of fourth place. Laura Gimmler finishes eleventh, Pia Fink thirteenth, Sofie Krehl seventeenth; Moa Ilar wins the race. Linus Straßer finishes eleventh in the Wengen slalom, Sebastian Holzmann is 24th. After the first run, Straßer was twelfth, 1.91 seconds behind Atle Lie McGrath, who wins ahead of Lucas Pinheiro Braathen and Henrik Kristoffersen. Holzmann was 18th after the first run with start number 34, in a position where World Cup points also carry weight with regard to Olympic nomination.

In ski jumping, Karl Geiger finishes 14th in Sapporo and thus fulfills half of the Olympic standard. Domen Prevc wins again, Philipp Raimund is the best German on both days (places 15 and nine). Luca Roth remains without points with places 31 and 46, Ben Bayer with 52 and 47 as well.

The German para cross-country skiers finish their home World Cup in Finsterau without a win, but achieve a total of three second and four third places over four competition days. The open relay with Nico Messinger, Sebastian Marburger, Linn Kazmaier, and Lennart Volkert finishes second behind the Russian team.

All in all, this Sunday shows a German team that is competitive in many disciplines – and in decisive cases not only "on track," but delivering concretely with victories, podiums, and fulfilled standards. At the same time, the message of the day remains: on the way to the Winter Games, often only a shooting error, a gust of wind, or two hundredths separate "right at the front" from "just behind."