When the final week of the Olympic Games kicks off in Paris on 5 August, the German track aces will be at the start in full team strength. The German Cycling Federation was able to fulfil the nomination criteria in all track disciplines, meaning that 14 athletes will be chasing medals in the Olympic track events at the Velodrome National not far from the Palace of Versailles. The German delegation can hope to win medals in the endurance disciplines - team pursuit, madison, omnium - as well as in the short time events (team sprint, sprint and keirin).
2024 Olympics: chances of a medal in the Madison
After all, she is the 2021 Olympic champion in the team pursuit with the women's quadruple sculls. Even after the end of Lisa Brennauer's career, the protégés of national coach André Korff do not have to hide behind the big track cycling nations such as Great Britain, Italy or New Zealand. After their male colleagues came away empty-handed at the Tokyo Olympics, national endurance coach Sven Meyer is particularly optimistic for the Madison discipline: "Realistically, Roger Kluge and Theo Reinhardt are the top candidates for a medal. The two have shown in recent years that they are among the best in the world."
Meyer is aware of the strong competition from other nations such as Denmark, France, the Netherlands and New Zealand. The New Zealanders in particular have made up a lot of ground over the past year, says Meyer. "If I had to choose, New Zealand is the favourite for the title, followed by the French. But in the Madison, the decisions are often so close that you can have a really good leg and still only finish sixth in the end," he points out.
What's in it for the German sprinters?
The imponderables that Germany's top sprinters Emma Hinze, Lea Sophie Friedrich and Pauline Grabosch experienced painfully in Tokyo. They were gold medallists in all three disciplines, but in the end their only result was a silver medal in the team sprint. Pauline Grabosch was correspondingly cautious about her second Olympic participation. "The Olympic Games are always seen in a different light to the World or European Championships. The media pressure is already much higher in the months leading up to the Games and, in addition to the sporting challenge, it's important to get through the race week mentally," said the five-time world champion in the team sprint.
Like her team-mates Hinze and Friedrich, the 26-year-old Grabosch skipped the Track Champions League in late autumn 2023 on her way to the Olympics. "Preparation for the Olympics is always special and is very individual for each athlete, also in coordination with their home coach," she explains. "Even though I skipped the Champions League last year, it's definitely a format with a future. The event sees the people behind the sport, introduces us to athletes in portraits and is finally an opportunity to earn some extra money," says the Cottbus native, characterising the race series initiated by the UCI in 2021.
The eloquent Grabosch nevertheless took part in two events as a presenter for a cycling streaming service. "When the enquiry came, I didn't have to think twice," she recalls of her first foray into the world of media. "I conducted interviews in English with athletes inside the track and realised that I really enjoyed being involved in the other side of my sport." However, Pauline Grabosch is not the only one focussing on reaping the rewards of three years of painstaking and hard preparation over the next few weeks.
The BDR team for the track events in Paris at a glance
Women, endurance area
Mieke Kröger
- Team/club RV Teutoburg Brackwede
- Age 30
- Size/weight 1.82 m/77 kg
- Place of birth Bielefeld
- Most important successes Olympic team pursuit champion 2021; World and European team pursuit champion 2021; European team and individual pursuit champion 2022
- Olympic participations 2016, 2021
- Discipline Team pursuit
Lisa Klein
- Team/club Lidl Trek
- Age 27
- Size/weight 1.69 m/61 kg
- Place of birth Saarbrücken
- Most important successes Olympic team pursuit champion 2021; European team pursuit champion 2022; European team pursuit bronze medallist 2023 and 2024
- Olympic participations 2016 (replacement driver), 2021
- Discipline Team pursuit
Laura Süßemilch
- Team/club Hess Cycling Team
- Age 27
- Size/weight 1.80 m/67 kg Place of birth Vineyards
- Most important successes World and European Team Pursuit Champion 2021; Third European Team Pursuit Championships 2023 and 2024
- Olympic participations 2021 (replacement driver)
- Discipline Team pursuit
Franziska Brauße
- Team/club Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling
- Age 25
- Size/weight 1.67 m/61 kg
- Place of birth Metzingen
- Most important successes Olympic team pursuit champion 2021; World and European team pursuit champion 2021; World single pursuit champion 2022; European single pursuit champion 2023
- Olympic participations 2021
- Discipline Team pursuit, Madison
Lena-Charlotte Reißner (substitute driver)
- Team/club LKT Team
- Age 23
- Size/weight 1.72 m/62 kg
- Place of birth Gera
- Most important successes European team pursuit champion 2021; European team pursuit bronze medallist 2024; German derny champion 2023
- Olympic participations -
- Discipline Team pursuit
Women, Sprint division
Pauline Grabosch
- Team/club Track Team Brandenburg/RSC Cottbus
- Age 26
- Size/weight 1.75 m/77 kg
- Place of birth Magdeburg
- Most important successes World champion team sprint 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023; European champion team sprint 2022, 2023 and 2024; European Championship silver medallist sprint 2023; European Championship bronze medallist time trial 2024
- Olympic participations 2021 (replacement driver)
- Discipline Team sprint, Sprint
Emma Hinze
- Team/club Track Team Brandenburg/RSC Cottbus
- Age 26
- Size/weight 1.68 m/63 kg
- Place of birth Hildesheim
- Most important successes World champion sprint 2020 and 2021; world champion team sprint 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023; world champion keirin 2020; European champion team sprint 2022, 2023 and 2024
- Olympic participations 2021
- Discipline Team sprint, sprint, keirin
Lea Sophie Friedrich
- Team/club Track Team Brandenburg/RSC Cottbus
- Age 24
- Size/weight 1.77 m/73 kg
- Place of birth Dassow
- Most important successes World champion keirin 2021 and 2022; world champion team sprint 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023; world champion 500m time trial 2020 and 2021; Olympic silver medallist team sprint 2021; multiple European champion in keirin and team sprint
- Olympic participations 2021
- Discipline Team sprint, sprint, keirin
Alessa-Catriona Pröpster (substitute driver)
- Team/club Track Cycling Team Rhineland-Palatinate/RV Offenbach
- Age 23
- Place of birth Hechingen
- Most important successes European team sprint champion 2023; U23 European sprint champion 2022 and 2023
- Olympic participations -
- Discipline Sprint, team sprint
Men, endurance area
Roger Kluge
- Team/club rad-net Oßwald
- Age 38
- Size/weight 1.92 m/83 kg
- Place of birth Eisenhüttenstadt
- Most important successes World Champion Madison 2018 and 2019; European Champion Madison 2022, 2023 and 2024; European Champion Omnium 2010; World Championship runner-up Omnium 2016
- Olympic participations 2008, 2012, 2016, 2021
- Discipline Team pursuit, Madison
Tobias Buck-Gramcko
- Team/club rad-net Oßwald
- Age 23
- Size/weight 1.88 m/76 kg
- Place of birth Göttingen
- Most important successes European Championship bronze medallist in the single pursuit 2023; European Championship silver medallist in the U23 single pursuit 2022; German team pursuit champion 2022
- Olympic participations -
- Discipline Team pursuit
Theo Reinhardt
- Team/club rad-net Oßwald
- Age 33
- Size/weight 1.77 m/72 kg
- Place of birth Berlin
- Most important successes World Champion Madison 2018 and 2019; European Champion Madison 2022, 2023 and 2024; European Championship runner-up elimination race 2022; World Championship bronze medallist Madison 2020
- Olympic participations 2016, 2021
- Discipline Team pursuit, Madison
Tim Torn Teutenberg
- Team/club Lidl-Trek Future Racing
- Age 21
- Size/weight 1.83 m/63 kg
- Place of birth Mettmann
- Most important successes European champion elimination race 2023; U23 European champion omnium and elimination race; German champion omnium 2022 and 2023
- Olympic participations -
- Discipline Omnium
Felix Groß (replacement driver)
- Team/club rad-net Oßwald
- Age 25
- Size/weight 1.84 m/71 kg
- Place of birth Feuchtwangen
- Most important successes European U23 single pursuit champion 2019 and 2020; European U23 team pursuit bronze medallist 2020
- Olympic participations -
- Discipline Team pursuit
Men, Sprint division
Maximilian Dörnbach
- Team/club Track Team Brandenburg/RSC Cottbus
- Age 28
- Place of birth Heiligenstadt
- Most important successes European U23 team sprint champion 2015; European Championship time trial bronze medallist 2023; German team sprint champion 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022 and 2023
- Olympic participations -
- Discipline Sprint, team sprint, keirin
Luca Spiegel
- Team/club Track Cycling Team Rhineland-Palatinate/RV Offenbach
- Age 20
- Place of birth Landau
- Most important successes European Junior Team Sprint Champion 2022; European Championship U23 Team Sprint bronze medallist
- Olympic participations -
- Discipline Team sprint
Stefan Bötticher
- Team/club Chemnitz PSV
- Age 32
- Size/weight 1.83 m/82 kg
- Place of birth Leinefelde
- Most important successes World Champion Sprint and Team Sprint 2013; Vice World Champion Sprint 2014; World Champion Keirin 2019; World Champion Team Sprint 2021; European Champion Keirin 2018; German Champion Sprint and Keirin 2022
- Olympic participations 2012 (substitute driver), 2016, 2021
- Discipline Team sprint, sprint, keirin
Nik Schröter (replacement driver)
- Team/club Track Team Brandenburg/RSC Cottbus
- Age 26
- Place of birth Finsterwalde
- Most important successes World Championship bronze medallist team sprint 2021; German champion team sprint 2019 and 2022
- Olympic participations -
- Discipline Team sprint
