Tobias WENDL

SUNSHINE TRAINING GROUP
Childhood friends with fellow German lugers Natalie Geisenberger, Felix Loch and Tobias Arlt. Trained together, under Loch’s father Norbert, and call themselves the ‘Sunshine Training Group.’ Norbert Loch said, “Sunshine means that they are having fun despite the hard training effort. If one of them falters a bit, the others carry him along.” (fil-luge.org, May 2014)

LIKE "BROTHERS"
Has been training with partner Tobias Arlt, who was born just two weeks before him, since age 13. The pair quickly developed synchronicity on the track. "As juniors, we swapped partners with another two-seater couple just for fun. It was a total disaster. I had the feeling I had a stick of wood in the back. Everything was so rough. Well, I'll never do that again."

However, their partnership extends well beyond the track. Wendl is Arlt's eldest daughter's godfather, and the duo regularly spend summers playing golf and have even vacationed together. "How are you supposed to sled with someone you can't get along with?" Arlt asks. "How is that supposed to work? I also wouldn't marry a woman I don't like." Wendl agreed, "We belong together with blood and sweat." (sportbuzzer.de, 14 Feb 2018; tagesanzeiger.ch, 14 Feb 2018; ovb-online.de, 28 Jan 2016)

© Data by Sports Data Warehouse

OLYMPIC GAMES
Along with Tobias Arlt, he has won two gold medals (doubles, team relay) at the past three Olympic Winter Games.

With their medals at Beijing 2022, Wendl/Arlt have equalled Armin Zoeggeler (ITA) for second on the list of all-time medallists in the sport with six, one medal behind teammate Natalie Geisenberger. The German tandem now jointly hold the record for most gold medals won by a German man.

Along with Geisenberger, the three hold the record for most gold medals in the sport and the most gold medals won by an athlete representing Germany with six.

At PyeongChang 2018, they became the third doubles pair to win back-to-back gold medals, after GDR's Hans Rinn/Norbert Hahn (1976, 1980) and Austria's Andreas Linger/Wolfgang Linger (2006, 2010), with the pair preventing the Linger's three-peat at Sochi 2014.

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Most successful doubles partnership with nine gold and 16 total medals, ahead of teammates Toni Eggert and Sascha Benecken with eight and 15 respectively. Also, sit third all-time, behind fellow German's Felix Loch (13 gold, 19 total) and Georg Hackl (10 gold, 22 total).

Five-time Junior World Championship gold medallist, with back-to-back doubles titles (2005, 2006), after bronze in 2004, and three consecutive relay wins (2004-2006), after silver in 2003.

WORLD CUP
Fourth most successful doubles pairing with four overall season titles, the pair have recorded 45 victories in 12 seasons.

Recorded their first World Cup podium in January 2008, finishing second at the Koenigssee doubles, before also winning silver at the World Championships in Oberhof later that month, and another World Cup podium in Altenberg the following week.

After their third podium in Koenigssee the following season, they had their first career win in Oberhof doubles two weeks later. Their second win came a year later at Koenigsee (where they also has their first team relay win), for their first of their nine consecutive World Cup titles on that track.

EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS
Most successful European male luger with 15 total medals, one more than Hans Rinn (GDR). However, the pair sit two behind Rinn's seven gold medals, but their five titles make them the most successful partnership, ahead of teammates Toni Eggert and Sascha Benecken's four.