German Olympians return to hero's welcome
February 26, 2018
A large welcome party met Germany's Olympians as they arrived at Frankfurt airport on Monday afternoon.
"We're happy to be back home. It's nice that it's so cold here, that way adjusting won't be so difficult," the team joked on Twitter, referring to the particularly chilly temperatures sweeping Western Europe.
About 85 of Germany's 154 athletes were on board the flight, including the men's ice hockey team that claimed a silver medal in the final against Russia on Sunday, and gold medal-winning figure-skaters Aljona Savchenko and Bruno Massot.
"It's special. We don't have parade like this every day, so we're enjoying it," ice hockey captain Marcel Goc told national broadcaster ARD. He said the athletes caught up on some much-needed sleep on the almost 11 hour flight.
"I think we all missed the first half," he said.
German athletes won a total of 31 medals —14 gold, 10 silver and seven bronze — at the Pyeongchang Winter Games, finishing second on the medal table behind Norway, which claimed 14 gold, 14 silver and 11 bronze.
nm/aw (SID, dpa)