Youth Olympic champion Laura Nolte hoping Lillehammer 2016 experience will boost her Beijing 2022 medal bid

Bobsledder Laura Nolte has navigated the path to the top of her sport almost as quickly as she hurtles down the ice on one of her world-beating runs.

It took the young German just a few months to go from complete novice to Youth Olympic Games (YOG) champion, and now the 23-year-old sits atop the World Cup rankings and is widely expected to mount a strong challenge for not one but two Olympic gold medals at Beijing 2022.

Nolte only piloted a sled for the first time in October 2015, but just four months later was good enough to top the podium at the Winter Youth Olympic Games Lillehammer 2016, as the monobob event made its debut on an Olympic programme.

Since then, she has partnered with brakewoman Deborah Levi to clinch the two-woman world junior title and gold at the 2021 European Championships, as well as a string of World Cup victories. The duo also won two-woman bronze at the 2021 World Championships, where Nolte also finished third in the monobob – an event that will appear at the Olympic Winter Games for the first time at Beijing 2022.

With Nolte’s previous success in the event at the YOG, and her blistering form in the two-woman World Cup this season, the German will be challenging on two fronts in Beijing – and few would be surprised to see her leave with two medals.

Olympics.com caught up with Nolte as she continues her preparations for the Games, with the Unna-born starlet hoping to put her YOG experiences to good use in the Chinese capital next month.

Olympics.com: You enjoyed some excellent results last season. How do you look back at what you achieved?

Laura Nolte: Yeah, I'm pretty happy with last season. My breakwoman, Deborah, and I knew that the last season would be very, very important for the Olympic season because our coaches could decide to give away one Olympic spot already. So last season we were like, "Okay, let's go all in and try to get a spot." At the end, it worked out pretty well and it was a very good season for us. We got the pre-nomination from the coaches in the summer, so we were set for the Olympic Games already and that was awesome.

How does it feel to have so much success so soon after stepping up from the junior level?

Yeah, it’s pretty amazing. After the Youth Olympic Games, which was in monobob, I switched to two-man bob. I knew it would be hard to get to the top, because the other German teams are pretty strong, and also all the other competitors, like from USA or Canada, are so much stronger than what I experienced in the Youth Olympic Games. But I always had the goal to make it to Beijing 2022. So with that goal in my mind, we kept pushing all the way. We also had some bad times, where we crashed a lot, and where it wasn't going that well, but I always thought, "Okay, that's part of the process and we can do it." Then when I teamed up with Deborah, everything started to be better. We had crazy good start times and we made it to the World Cup together, and that was awesome.

You mentioned going through some tough times and bad crashes. How difficult is it to overcome experiences like that and get back in the sled to try again?

It's pretty tough, especially when you crash in one corner a few times, or when there's something in your head where you are like, "Okay, I don't know how to get it." I had this in Altenberg at my first World Championships in 2020. I didn't get it, and it was very hard. But I also knew, "Okay, I am still young, I'm the youngest in the field and I have to learn more. I'm not as experienced as the others yet, but no matter, I will get there." I sat down after that season and studied a lot of lines in Altenberg, just to try to get it right the next time and also prepare mentally for it. I analysed it with my sport psychologist and then I was ready for Altenberg the next season and went away with two bronze medals.

Has it been difficult this season to stop thinking ahead to the Olympic Winter Games?

In the first half of the season, I really didn't think of the Olympics all the time, because we had so much work to do. It was so far away still, in my head. But then over Christmas, when we went home, I had a little break, then you start thinking. But yeah, I think that's normal. A little bit of excitement is good too, I think.

Beijing won’t be your first Olympic experience, as you also competed in the Winter YOG Lillehammer 2016. What are your memories of that event?

It was awesome over there. It was like a little Olympic Games and I enjoyed every second. You really could feel all the other nations, we were close to each other, you made new friends, you watched events from other sports together; it was such a cool atmosphere. And also the races were awesome; everything around it was made so beautiful for us athletes and everything worked well and they put so much effort into it.

You only started training in bobsleigh a few months earlier. How did you go from being a complete novice to being Youth Olympic champion so quickly?

I'm not quite sure how I did that. By skipping a lot of school! At the beginning it was pretty hard to even know what I have to do and all the things around it, because most pilots start as a brakeman first, and then they become a pilot and they know what bobsled is all about at that time. But I didn't know how to put my runners on the bob, how to prepare them, how to carry around a bob. It was a lot, but we had a great team, and they really helped me getting there as fast as possible.

You mentioned that your goal has always been to make it to Beijing. How significant were the Youth Olympic Games in forming that goal?

Yeah, the success in Lillehammer really made me make the choice to continue doing bobsled at first. It started so great, and I was like, "Okay, I want to do this. I want to continue doing the sport.” And I knew 2018 would be impossible because I just started, and all the other girls were so much more experienced than I was. I hadn't even driven a two-man bobsled at that time. So, I always said, "Okay, at 2022, I want to get there. I want to have this experience again and even make it a bigger run."

Do you think having been to the YOG will make it easier for you in Beijing?

Maybe, because I know some of the rules and stuff already, and I know how it is in an Olympic Village, even if it was a lot smaller. Of course, Beijing will be a whole different experience and a bigger run, but yeah, I'm excited for it.

Monobob will make its debut at an Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, but as a Youth Olympic champion in the event already, do you think that will help you?

Yeah, maybe. I really like the monobob. I like how it's very difficult. The lines are very different to two-man and it doesn't come down that much to material, so you'll see smaller nations coming up as well. And I think that makes it even more exciting even if you know, "Okay. It will be very hard. You have to go be very consistent in all those four runs," but it makes it very exciting and it's cool to race against all these ladies in monobob as well. With my experience in my head, I'm looking forward to this competition as well.

What do the Olympics mean to you personally?

It's the biggest goal you can have, I think for almost every athlete. And you know that if you achieve that goal of going to the Olympic Games, you're one of the best. So that means all your effort pays off and you really made it and that feels great. And so, I think we will enjoy every second of it. It's just amazing.