The sliding sports powerhouse has once again asserted its dominance. 

At the Milan Cortina Games, Germany has proven it is the country to beat on the ice track. With just two events remaining — two-woman bobsled and four-man bobsled — the nation has claimed 50 percent of the total medals awarded at the Cortina Sliding Centre. On Feb. 17, Germany swept the two-man bobsled for the second consecutive Olympic Games.

Here is a look at Germany's dominance in each sliding sport.

When discussing Germany's sliding sport dominance, there's no better place to start than luge. By far, German athletes have had their most success in the sport. The dominance began when the sport made its Olympic debut at the 1964 Innsbruck Games, and Thomas Kohler, Klaus Bonsack and Hans Plenk recorded a 1-2-3 finish in the men’s singles event. Ortrun Enderlein and Ilse Geisler also recorded a 1-2 finish in women’s singles, setting a high bar for future Olympics.

Entering the 2026 Games, German athletes (which includes athletes who have represented Germany, East Germany and West Germany) had won 87 total medals and 38 golds in luge. Both numbers were larger than medals won by all other nations combined (66 total, 14 gold). 

The dominance continued at the Cortina Sliding Centre. Germany won a medal in every luge event contested, highlighted by a fourth consecutive gold medal in the luge team relay. The event, which made its Olympic debut at the 2014 Sochi Games, has been won by a German team each time it has been contested.

Germany has had more success than any other nation in Olympic bobsled history, but the margin is smaller. Entering the 2026 Games, Germany had won 32 total medals, narrowly edging Switzerland (31) and the United States (28).

That gap has certainly grown, however, at Milan Cortina.

Germany entered the 2026 Games having won gold in five of the last six Olympic two-man bobsled races (including at the 2019 Games, when they tied Canada for the top position). At the 2022 Games, they became the first nation to sweep the podium in an Olympic bobsled event when they went 1-2-3 in the two-man discipline. They were also the only nation to sweep the podium in any sport in Beijing. On Tuesday at Milan Cortina, Germany accomplished the unprecedented feat of sweeping the podium at back-to-back Games. Johannes Lochner/Georg Fleischhauer took gold, Francesco Friedrich/Alexander Schuller took silver while Adam Ammour/Alexander Schaller claimed bronze.

With Laura Nolte's silver medal in the monobob, Germany leads all nations with four bobsled medals as of Feb. 17.

Germany has recently begun to emerge as a powerhouse in skeleton. The first German men to win medals in the sport were Christopher Grotheer and Axel Jungk, and that was not until the 2022 Beijing Games. However, they made a statement by taking both gold and silver in the event. At Milan Cortina, Jungk took home silver while Grotheer secured bronze.

On the women’s side, Germany has had at least one medalist in four of the last five Olympics, including Milan Cortina. Susanne Kreher and Jacqueline Pfeifer took home silver and bronze on Feb. 14.

Germany also made a statement during the Olympic debut of the mixed team skeleton event, taking home the silver and bronze medals. With that result, Germany officially claimed all of the possible silver and bronze medals in skeleton events, but surprisingly, did not take home any golds.

The question everyone has been asking: Why is Germany so far ahead of the rest of the competition?

Though it may seem like it, there is no secret when it comes to the country's overwhelming success in sliding sports.

Of the 17 active sliding tracks in the world, four are located across Germany. The only other countries to have more than one facility are the United States (Park City, Utah, and Lake Placid, New York) and Austria (Innsbruck and Bludenz). Canada, Japan, Latvia, China, Switzerland, South Korea and of course, Italy, each feature one active track.

Between the four facilities located in the country, Germany has hosted 19 World Championships since 1973. The nature of the facilities also lends itself to elite performance — the artificial track in Altenberg is one of the most challenging in the world, while the track in Winterberg is known to be one of the fastest worldwide. The track located in Konigssee, the first and oldest artificial ice track worldwide, underwent a reconstruction project in 2010 that made it a true state-of-the-art facility.

With more access to high-end facilities than any other nation, the training opportunities are greater in Germany than they are elsewhere. Additionally, coaching infrastructure and technological expertise have kept the nation firmly at the top for decades. Germany has invested in cutting-edge technology when it comes to sleds and equipment, ensuring that athletes can compete at the top of their game on the world's biggest stage.

In Germany, success in sliding sports has become a point of pride. And with the success we have seen at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games, that doesn't show signs of fading any time soon.