Andre LANGE

It would take a long, long time to list all of André Lange’s achievements, all those titles, wins and gold medals. To mention only the best, André Lange is a four-time Olympic champion, eight-time world champion and eight-time European champion, with 36 World Cup wins and 5 general ranking victories.

Langen and Lange

In 1998, Lange was still too young to compete at the Games in Nagano, so he won the junior World Championships hands down instead. The top bobsledder at the time was Germany’s Christoph Langen, the reigning Olympic champion. Four years later in Salt Lake City, the two men shared top billing and the gold medals: Langen driving the two-man bob and Lange driving the second German four-man bob.

In 2006, André Lange competed in the two events on the programme of the Games in Turin. Of the eight runs with his team, he won five, also finishing second twice and fourth once. For André and his partners, including Kevin Kuske, his loyal pusher since the start, recognition had arrived: they were two-time Olympic champions.

Silver for one-hundredth; gold at the end

In Vancouver in 2010, André Lange was still one of the bobsleigh favourites. In tribute to his prestigious career, he was chosen as his team’s flag bearer for the Opening Ceremony. Beaten by the Americans in the four-man bob, Lange and his partners took the silver medal by one-hundredth of a second in the final run, beating the Canadians. In the two-man bob, André made good use of his experience. Second in the first run, he won the next three and his fourth Olympic title. Until he and his partner Kuske came along, nobody before had ever managed to win four gold medals in bobsleigh. André Lange can take a well-deserved retirement.