Interview With Sprint World Championship's Silver Medalist Natalie Maag:
“I want to experience the Olympics with other athletes and sports”

Lenzerheide (FIL /04 Nov 2024) Natalie Maag, the Swiss silver medalist in the sprint at the 2024 World Championships in Altenberg, is facing an exciting but challenging pre-Olympic season. The change of her favorite discipline, which was replaced by the new Mixed Event, presents the world-class athlete from Switzerland with unfamiliar conditions and new challenges. In the interview, the 27 year old talks about her thoughts on the change of discipline, her goals, sports funding in Switzerland and how she is preparing for the upcoming season.

Natalie Maag, the EBERSPAECHER Luge World Cup starts in Lillehammer, Norway, at the end of November. How have your preparations for the season gone so far?

Natalie Maag: “I've had a very good start to the new season so far. We had great conditions during the first week of luge in Lillehammer. We only went one tenth of a second over the track record, which is really great for the fall. After that, we were in Sigulda for a week. That's one of my favorite tracks because you can really work on the sled there. That's why I also like to race in Altenberg.”

As part of the FIL partnership program, you train with the German team and are also supported by the German coaches and staff at competitions. How long has this been the case and what are the advantages?

Natalie Maag: “To be honest, I don't remember exactly. It feels like it has always been like this. I competed in Norway for the first time at the age of 13 in the Youth A World Cup and at 14 I competed in the first Junior World Championships in Innsbruck, and since then I have definitely been on the road with the German team. There is no other way. To be honest, without the German team I would not be vice world champion now. My sled is built by Robert Eschrich and you can see from last season's results that I have fast equipment. There is no way I would be where I am now without this partnership."

How did you manage it organizationally?

Natalie Maag: "In recent years, our collaboration has been even closer because I spent most of my time in Oberhof. Since last year, I have only been to Oberhof once a month. I really missed my home country Switzerland. And I also have to go my own way to a certain extent; now I feel experienced enough to do it successfully. I know how I have to organize my summer training. Since last year, I have changed a few things with my Swiss athletic trainer and I think our success has proved us right.”

There has also been a change in the German team. Head coach Norbert Loch has stepped down and Patric Leitner has taken over his position. How is the collaboration going?
Natalie Maag: “It wasn't that big a change because I've been working more with Patric in recent years. He still wants to work closely with us athletes.”

You come from a luge family. Your mom and brother were also active in luge. Did the family tradition bring you to the sport?

Natalie Maag: “My mom, my brother and my father were all in the sport. I'm in the luge business because there was a sledding track in the neighboring town. I think it was there until the 1960s. They used to have world championships there, which is how both of my parents got into it. Luge was just always a part of our family. Everyone tried it at some point. My uncle was at the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid. Unfortunately, he wasn't very successful there. He didn't reach the finish line.
My mom was a luge athlete and she is now on the board of our federation “Swiss Sliding”. My brother competed in the first YOG (Youth Olympic Games) 2011 in Innsbruck. Now I'm the only one in the family who still does it.”

There were young luge athletes in Switzerland, and St. Moritz has a great track, hardly any Swiss lugers make it into the World Cup? What is the reason for this?

Natalie Maag: “I have mainly got this far because of my family, who have given me a lot of support, and then because of my partnership with the German team. Switzerland simply lacks the infrastructure and support.”

The Swiss military is your employer. Are you part of their sports promotion and what advantages does it bring?

Natalie Maag: “I still worked until 2019. In addition to competitive sports, I always worked 50 to 60 percent of my time, even though I was already competing in the World Cup. Financially, it was not possible for me and my family otherwise. Life in Switzerland is expensive, and you can't make a living as a luger without working. Martina Kocher, Switzerland's first luge world champion, was always my role model. As far as I know, she was even the first woman in our military to do so. It was always my big goal to achieve the same. In 2020, unfortunately during the Corona period, I was able to complete the elite sports military training school. After that, you are employed in the military in Switzerland for four years. There are only nine winter athletes in the country who enjoy this privilege. Together with the nine other summer athletes, there are currently only 18 competitive athletes in Switzerland who receive military support. More than 50 athletes applied for these 18 places. It is a great honor for me to be accepted into the Swiss military as a female luge athlete, and that's why I love to put on my uniform and represent the Swiss military.”

In January 2024, you became vice world champions at the sprint world championships in Altenberg, Germany. You celebrated with the world champion, your roommate Julia Taubitz, on her home track. What does your friendship and athletic partnership mean to you?

Natalie Maag: “It's just great. It's very important for me to have someone like Julia - a friend and fellow sufferer - with me in the winter. We can talk about anything. Whether it's luge or personal matters. We've been together for so many years now and we couldn't have written a better story. It was very cool when we went to bed at night. I said, “Good night, world champion,” and Julia replied, “Good night, vice world champion!” For me, that was the greatest story of the World Championships, an incredible shared experience.”

At the FIL Congress in the summer of 2024, it was decided that the sprint will be replaced by a new mixed event with immediate effect. What do you, as the runner-up in the world championships, have to say about that?

Natalie Maag: “Well, I have to say quite honestly that before the 2024 World Championships, I didn't like the sprint, even though it's a discipline that's very good for me because I'm not a fast starter. We athletes have always said that it is not right to get the same number of World Cup points for a run in which you don't even cover the whole distance from the start as you would for a normal World Cup race with two runs. I never found that proportionate. It's a shame, of course, that we've now been deprived of an individual discipline and thus a chance at a medal. But it's definitely good that the sprint no longer has such a significant impact on the overall World Cup.”

Instead of the sprint, there is now the new mixed event. Unfortunately, there are currently no male Swiss luge athletes competing in the World Cup. So there will be no Swiss team either. What do you think about that?

Natalie Maag: “Fortunately, nations can be mixed for the new Mixed Event. That's very cool for me. Because I can never take part in the team relay, which is my favorite competition. Now with this new mixed relay, I can also hit the touchpad at the finish, even if I still have to practice it."

Who will be your partner?

Natalie Maag: "Since the nations are allowed to mix in the new event, I wrote to the Australian Alex Ferlazzo to see if he would compete in the mixed singles with me. Alex replied that it was clear to him from the start that we would race together! Alex came in fifth at the World Championships in Altenberg. And I will start with Alex Ferlazzo because I am a competitive athlete, and we both want to do our best and not just be there.
It's funny that we used to compete in the team relay with Switzerland and Australia in the junior team. My brother used to race in the doubles back then. Luca Hunziker and Christian Maag competed in doubles, Alex Ferlazzo and I in singles, because it was allowed to mix nations in the juniors' class. And now we are allowed to compete together again this winter. I'm really looking forward to it. We have already practiced the reaction start a lot with the Germans. It will be exciting and something completely new for me when I wait at the top of the reaction start for the gate to pop up and then have to hit this small touchpad with my hand at full speed.”

What are you expecting? Is a podium possible for Team Switzerland-Australia?

Natalie Maag: “Well, I think it will be difficult because the Germans, Austrians, Latvians and Americans each have two teams and are of course very strong. But it will be exciting, and I think it's not impossible. This mixed competition will certainly attract a lot of attention to our sport. I always had to explain what the sprint was, and the mixed event has been clear to everyone from the start. It's a great thing.”

The pre-Olympic season with the World Championships in Whistler is coming up. Then in February 2026, the Winter Olympics will take place in Milan and Cortina. What are your next sporting goals?

Natalie Maag: “That's difficult to say because of the new track in Cortina. We still don't know what it will be like. I really pray for Cortina that the track will be ready and that we can race there in the Olympics. I want to experience the Olympics with the other sports and athletes. Beijing was already not normal, and if we were to race on a track in another country, it wouldn't be nice for us lugers and bobsledders.

As for the coming season, it is still difficult for me to set specific goals. I have a few aches and pains with my shoulder and a finger injury. That has had a bit of an effect on training. So far, I have looked very good in training with the times on the track. I would be lying if I said I was satisfied with twelfth place. But for now, the most important thing is to stay healthy and be able to make it through the season.”

Thank you very much, Natalie Maag!

Photos: Mareks Galinovskis and Klaus-Eckhard Jost