Four-man bob: Gold pusher Marc Rademacher ends his career – “There were so many beautiful moments”
Created: 12/24/2022, 07:00
By: Michael Leitner
Just one of his many successes: Marc Rademacher (2nd from left) won the World Cup and the European Championships at Königssee in January 2019 together with (from left) Christian Rasp, Florian Bauer and Johannes Lochner.
© dpa
Marc Rademacher celebrated countless successes as a four-man bob pusher.
However, the injuries that ultimately forced him to end his career were just as numerous.
District – The 2023 World Cup in St. Moritz was the last major goal of his sports career.
But it wasn't meant to be.
Four-man pusher Marc Rademacher has hung up his shoes with the ice spikes.
After three serious injuries in three years, the training deficit could no longer be made up.
"I don't see it negatively.
A new phase of life is just beginning for me,” says the 32-year-old.
What no one can take away from him are the memories of the many successes and the time spent with his teammates.
"I enjoyed it."
Model athlete Rademacher initially started with martial arts
Rademacher, who moved to Paunzhausen with his family at the age of four and then to Freising when he was 17, actually comes from the martial arts corner.
"Judo as a little boy, boxing as a teenager, later mixed martial arts" – this is how he described his career in an interview at the beginning of his sporting career.
In 2013, the model athlete with a height of 1.92 meters and a fighting weight of 110 kilos managed to enter the ice track.
Even if it was coincidental: A colleague of the trained aircraft mechanic, who used to be a bobsledder himself, spoke to him because of his stately dimensions.
The contact to the former state coach "Hartl" Sanktjohanser was soon established.
And after the first training sessions, the way was mapped out: From then on, Marc Rademacher started as a brakeman.
Rademachers wins several European and World Championship medals for juniors and seniors
The first major successes were not long in coming.
Victory at the 2015 Junior World Championships in four-man bobsled by pilot Christoph Hafer was just the beginning.
This was followed by the European Championship titles in 2018 and 2019, the overall World Cup victory in 2018 in the foursome by Johannes Lochner and gold with the team relay of the bobsleigh and skeleton pilots at the 2019 World Championships. “There were so many beautiful moments,” the 32-year-old adds raving today.
Above all, he will never forget March 4, 2019, when he stood at the top of the podium at the World Championships in Whistler, Canada.
Also because it was his last competition.
(By the way: everything from the region is now also available in our regular Freising newsletter.)
Serious injuries make things difficult for the long-time Freisinger
2019 started a hard time.
Rademacher, who had switched to the Bavarian police and was promoted there in the top-class sports program until a few months ago, was from then on downright unlucky with injuries.
He missed the 2019/20 World Cup season due to a severe injury in his right knee.
In 2020/21 the left made a start impossible, in 2021/22 it was the turn of the right again.
No sport, but operations and rehabilitation.
"It was a bitter pill.
In addition, I lost my status as a squad athlete.
It was also particularly tough mentally, I fell into a real hole back then," he said a year ago.
But giving up was never an option.
In 2022, Marc Rademacher wanted to know again.
The rehab went well and the 32-year-old was back in full training.
But the ex-Freisinger, who has lived in Munich for seven years, could not make up for the three years lost.
"After the performance test in early October, it was clear that I could no longer reach the level and that my career was nearing the end," emphasizes Rademacher.
He decided to draw a line.
"I wouldn't call it a negative aspect of my life.
I did everything I could and I can't fault anything."
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Rademacher remains connected to the sport - also professionally
Sure, there's a lot that Marc Rademacher will miss.
The incentive to compete with the other aces in bobsleigh.
The positive tension before the competitions.
The teammates, many of whom have become lifelong friends.
But there are also advantages to not being a competitive athlete any longer: "Now I have time to do things that were previously not possible for me out of consideration for bobsledding," says Rademacher.
"It doesn't matter whether it's martial arts, ice skating or squash - it's nice not always having to watch your knees."
This makes it clear: a life without sport is not an option for Marc Rademacher.
He trains young people and adults on a voluntary basis in a Munich martial arts studio – this is also and above all about basic strength training.
"I'm trying to pass on what I've learned in my eight years as a competitive athlete," reports the 32-year-old.
"And maybe in 2023 I'll also compete in mixed martial arts.
I'm happy that I'm completely fit again after the three serious injuries and that I don't have any physical limitations."
From a professional point of view, the topic of sport is not left out.
The chief police officer, who was released from duty eleven months a year during his active sports career, took up a position in company health management at the Munich police headquarters on December 1st.
“Here I can also pass on my knowledge in lectures and other activities.
Because sport and health are inseparable.” BY MICHAEL LEITNER
You can find more current news from the district of Freising at Merkur.de/Freising.
