The German association is strongly positioned in the pair run. It looks bad in the individual disciplines.
The German ice skating union (DEU) believes in the strength of its couple runners at the World Cup in Boston, which started on Wednesday and hopes for a as good performance as in the previous year. “It would really be a great success for the association if we could repeat the medal from last year. That would be a dream. The athletes also gave themselves the goal,” sports director Claudia Pfeifer told the SID .
Minerva-Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin won World Cup bronze in 2024 and, as reigning European champions, were among the circle of favorites. “The two are really in top form. They train very conscientiously, are very meticulous and very focused,” said Pfeifer.
Like Hase/Volodin, the second German couple Annika Hocke/Robert Kunkel, the fifth of the World Cup from 2024, has arrived in Boston. “The expectations are that both couples enjoy their highlight of the season and call up their best performance that they have worked towards all season,” said Pfeifer.
Difficult location in the individual disciplines
The situation in the individual disciplines is difficult. No German participant was reported for women’s World Cup competition after the German champion Kristina Isaev had to end the season prematurely due to injury. In the men, Nikita Starostin is at least aiming for the freestyle final.
“It is very annoying for the association and also a setback that we could not send this season to a lady that the minimum standard of the World Association was able to meet,” said Pfeifer: “As expected, it will be very difficult for men. The season of Nikita was not yet optimal and has had ups and downs.”