Thorsten Margis
Germany
Bobsled
Overall Ranks
#4 among German Olympians
#1 among Bobsledders
Olympic Results
2018
Two Man - Gold
Four Man - Gold
2022
Two Man - Gold
Four Man - Gold
2026
Four Man - Gold
Total
Events - 6
Gold - 5
Thorsten Margis was born on August 14, 1989 in Bad Honnef, West Germany, not long before the reunification of Germany. Germany has dominated the bobsled events for a long time, especially on the men's side, so making one of the teams is no small feat.
His first Olympic appearance came in 2014, when he joined the sled piloted by Francesco Friedrich, another Olympic newcomer. He only raced in the four-man event that year, and the team finished in 8th place overall, a pretty nondescript start to a stellar career.
By the time the Olympics returned in 2018, the team had improved quite a bit, having won the past 3 World Championships in the two-man, and the previous year's four-man as well. They still weren't considered the favorites in the two-man, and were in 5th place after the first two runs, but they set a new track record in their third run to move into 2nd place with one run to go. Their final run was enough to put them in first place with only the Canadian favorites left to run, and after they finished, they ended up with the exact same time, down to .01 of a second, and a tie for the gold medal was declared.
Riding their high from winning gold, they moved on to the 4-man event, where they posted the fastest time in each of the first three runs, giving them a lead of almost half a second headed into the final run, which is an eternity in bobsled. They ran a safe, controlled final run to take an easy second gold medal of the games.
Friedrich and Margis won two more World Championships in the two-man after their Olympic triumph, making them the favorites in 2022, and they didn't disappoint. The pair had the best time in 3 of their 4 runs, with the eventual silver medalists led by Johannes Lochner beating them by .09 seconds on the second run. Overall, they beat the other German team by 0.49 seconds for an easy gold.
The 4-man event was the same story. Margis' sled was best in 3 of the 4 runs, with Lochner's sled beating them one the other run, with Margis' team winning the event by 0.37 seconds, pulling them into a tie for most golds in bobsled history.
In 2024, Margis announced that he was switching bobsled teams from the one led by Friedrich to the one piloted by Lochner, who had finished right behind them in both events in 2022. The new team also included Georg Fleischhauer, who was #138 on my list, though Margis only competed in the four-man sled. They won the gold by more than half a second over his old teammate, Friedrich, in 2026, making Margis the first bobsledder to win 5 Olympic gold medals.
Margis announced his retirement after winning that final gold medal earlier this year, and with a perfect record in the past 3 Olympic games, he has established himself as one of the greatest Olympic athletes of all time.
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