Hase/Volodin shine at German Nationals

German Nationals once again took place in the mountain resort of Oberstdorf in mid-December. Not only seniors, but also junior skaters and novice ice dancers competed for the titles and medals plus the synchronized teams and Special Olympics participants. All in all, more than 300 athletes of different levels came to Oberstdorf.

Minerva Hase/Nikita Volodin were the biggest stars at Nationals and are the only ones that compete for medals at the Olympic Games, World and European Championships. They came fresh off their bronze medal at the ISU Grand Prix Final and had travelled directly from Japan to Oberstdorf. They put out a solid Tango Short Program for a confident lead. Their Free Skating was strong as well, the only glitch came in the 3T-2A-2A sequence when Hase stumbled on the first Axel and was unable to complete the second Axel. Their Brazilian dance coach Sidnei Brandao who has had a major input since the past season came for the first time to a competition. Hase/Volodin also care about the next generation: They and their coach Dmitri Savin stayed an extra day in Oberstdorf to participate in a seminar for athletes that are interested in pair skating and practiced some elements with them.

Germany has a second strong team in Annika Hocke/Robert Kunkel that hat placed as high as fifth in the World in 2024. However, in the past season and earlier this season they struggled with some injuries and did not yet reach the same level again. The 2022 European bronze medalists confirmed their upward trend in Oberstdorf. They started off with a good Short Program to „Hold My Hand“ by Lady Gaga. Hocke only doubled the Salchow but the throw triple flip was excellent. Hocke landed the triple Salchow in the Free Skating to „I’d Do Anything For Love“ by Meatloaf. The third team, Letizia Roscher/Luis Schuster skated clean with a throw triple Salchow and a planned side by side double Salchow. Highlights in their Free Skating were a double Axel and the lifts while Roscher stepped out of the throw triple Salchow and they reduced the throw flip to a double. Shortly after Nationals the couple announced that they have ended their partnership after nine years. Schuster reportedly initiated the split and is looking for a new partner while Roscher is still taking some time to decide what comes next for her.

New Men’s Champion Genrikh Gartung

Genrikh Gartung eventually confirmed his role as the favorite, but he doubled the Lutz in Short Program and sat it third place at first. He also touched down on the double Axel. The 18-year-old rallied back in the Free Skating, putting out his best performance so far that included a quad flip and quad Lutz-triple toe combination as well as six more triple jumps. He easily overtook Kai Jagoda and Nikita Starostin to win his first national title at the senior level. The Russian-born skater will debut at the European Championships in Sheffield.

Nikita Starostin and Kai Jagoda came second and third, but it was close and not everybody agreed with the result. Starostin went for a quad Salchow in both programs but missed it. He also mad some other errors but was able to salvage points with five clean triples in the Free Skating and his spins and footwork.
Jagoda led after a clean Short that featured a triple Axel, triple toe-triple toe and triple filp. Jagoda landed two triple Axels in the Free but doubled a loop. In the end he slipped to third, just 0.06 points behind Starostin. Two days later he announced his retirement that he actually had planned since the fall after learning that his sports soldier contract will not be prolonged. Arthur Wolfgang Mai came fourth but struggled with several jumps.

Ice Dancers Janse van Rensburg/Steffan seal Olympic spot
Jennifer Janse van Rensburg/Benjamin Steffan danced off with their fifth national title. They have been building throughout the season and confirmed their form on home ice. The next goal is to make the top ten at Europeans. Their Flamenco Free Dance is a perfect fit for the expressive dancers. Janse van Rensburg/Steffan were far ahead of their competitors in the national Olympic qualifying race.

At the beginning of the season Charise Matthaei/Max Liebers seemed ready to challenge the leaders but they did not earn the minimum scores set by the German NOC in any of their international events. The couple that has been training in Italy for a few seasons now turned in two solid performances to win the silver medal. The bronze went to Karla Maria Karl/Kai Hoferichter from Berlin. Lilia Schubert/Nikita Remeshevskiy debuted at the senior level at Nationals and showed potential.

Julia Grabowski wins Women's title
The Women’s event was the weakest of all disciplines. The title was vacant after Kristina Isaev announced her retirement last spring.  The new champion is Julia Grabowski, who trains in Oberstdorf under Nicole Schott and Michael Huth. She is a pleasant skater but the technical difficulty was not there yet. The German Skating Union decided not to send her to Sheffield for Europeans even though she got the minimum score. According to high performance director Jens ter Laak, the Federation wants to give Grabowski more time to grow as a skater and not send her to Europeans at this point. The truth is that Grabowski's chance to make the cut for the Free Skating are pretty slim. 
Sarah Pesch won silver ahead of Kira Thurner. The hopes of the German Skating Federation are on the juniors – Anna Gerke, 15 and Diana Ziesecke, 14, have a lot of potential and delivered strong performances. But it is still a long way for them before they will be senior-eligible. Gerke won Junior Nationals ahead of Ziesecke and most likely will be selected for Junior Worlds.

Team for Europeans named

The German Skating Union nominated Hase/Volodin, Hocke/Kunkel, Janse van Rensburg/Steffan and Gartung to the team for the Euorpean Championships in Sheffield, Great Britain in mid-January. 

For more photos, visit the German Nationals photo page on our website.