What has changed in Olympic bobsled since the Beijing Games?
Since the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing, Olympic bobsled has seen a wave of retirements, comebacks, and new contenders. Germany’s Mariama Jamanka, who won gold in PyeongChang and secured silver in Beijing, stepped away from the sport — but her former brakewoman Lisa Buckwitz has not slowed down. She has gone from strength to strength winning multiple monobob and two-woman events across the past three seasons.
Germany continues its legacy of dominance in the sport, and as Laura Nolte heads into Milan Cortina, she will be the one to beat. The German star dominated the 2024–25 season, winning both the monobob and two-woman world championship titles and topping the World Cup standings with five victories. With four-straight European titles and back-to-back global golds, Nolte firmly has taken the reins as the sport’s top force.
In the men’s competition, Francesco Friedrich remains the undisputed king of men’s bobsled. The German pilot has swept gold in both the 2-man and 4-man events at every Olympics and nearly every world championships since 2015, including double titles at the 2025 Worlds in Lake Placid. Backed by a deep German roster and unrivaled precision, Friedrich continues to set the standard in every race.
Meanwhile, American icon Elana Meyers Taylor, who earned two medals in Beijing, has returned to competition with no signs of slowing down. The five-time Olympian took time off to have her second child and since has reestablished herself as a favorite heading into Milan, topping World Cup standings in both the two-woman and monobob events.
In recent years, bobsled has deepened its roster of nationalities regularly competing. Today, athletes from Austria, Korea, Brazil, Romania, Trinidad and Tobago, and of course Jamaica to name a few, all are competing in this challenging sport.