Wiesbaden has blossomed into a stronghold in German and international bobsledding in recent years. Under the former athletics trainer Tim Restle, numerous sledders in the Hessian state capital worked on their acceleration and strength values. Many of them were happy about successes in the World Cup, at World and European Championships or – in the case of bronze medalist Christoph Hafer – most recently at the Olympic Games.
The group of 14 people has now turned its back on its previous location and on March 1st has completely relocated to the athletics base on Frankfurt’s Hahnstraße, where it used to practice twice a week. The move involves a change of club: the eagle of the Frankfurt Eintracht is intended to give wings to winter sports enthusiasts on their rapid descents through the channel. The newcomers are affiliated to the large club of the ice sports department, which is responsible for curling and ice stock sport. “This is now our smallest sport, but of high quality,” says the executive board member of Eintracht, Dieter Burkert.
State trainer Restle and Erica Fischbach, President of the Hessian Bobsleigh and Sled Sports Association, expect more support and more professional conditions in the new environment. In the mornings, they could not get into their previous hall, which the competitive athletes shared with school classes. In addition, their dream of a push-pull track should come true on the Niederraeder facility within the next two years. The Hessian Ministry of the Interior has promised funding; the remaining costs are hoped to be covered with the help of the city and Eintracht.
New Eagle Bearer: Coach Tim Restle
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Photo: private
Burkert confirms that SGE will do its part. There are no fully paid professionals in the club, “but we are interested in top-class sport”. The new members, who previously competed for the much smaller Eintracht Wiesbaden, would be dressed by the outfitter, costs for training or competition rides could be covered and individual sponsorship could be considered for outstanding performance. Fischbach, who continues to bear responsibility as the initiator of the project, also expects to be relieved of media work.
“Very well received in Frankfurt”
“We hope for a future model,” says Burkert. The existing cooperation between the state associations for bobsleigh and track and field athletics is to be intensified in order to offer other talented people from the track the opportunity to try their hand at the ice track and thus further develop the still young base for the winter discipline. Restle will work closely with former companions: with the middle-distance national coach Georg Schmidt, with whom he once gained his first experience as a coach – and with David Corell, who was still active himself at the time and today also coaches Deborah Levi in addition to the German top sprinter Kevin Kranz , in which Restle sees the world’s best brakewoman.
“We were very well received in Frankfurt,” says the coach. Restle doesn’t see the fact that some from the athletics scene have to fear that their offspring will run away from them: such a decision should never be made over the head of the coach. “If everyone walks the path together, there are only winners in the end.” Like the former sprinter Levi, who won Olympic gold in China.
