Background
Manuel Machata grew up in Ramsau near Berchtesgaden, Germany.
Manuel Machata grew up in Ramsau near Berchtesgaden, Germany.
He attended the CJD Christophorus high school in Berchtesgaden.
After completing high school he joined the sports group of the German army (Bundeswehr). He was behind Thomas Florschütz in both two-man and four-man at Königssee 2007 and third in the 2008 two-man championships in Altenberg. He reached second place at the Junior World Championship 2009 at Königssee in both two and four-man bobsled.
He decided the European Cup in 2009 for himself and secured his starting place for the 2010/11 World Cup after André Lange"s resignation.
Although he is ranked in the B-league behind the two A-league drivers Karl Angerer and Thomas Florschütz, he dominated the difficult track in Whistler in a surprise victory in the two-man bobsled with his brakeman Andreas Bredau in his World Cup debut. At the following World Cup stop in Calgary, he celebrated his maiden victory in the four-man race with his pushers Makarow, Bredau and Poser.
In March 2014 Machata received a 5,000 Euro fine and a one year ban from the Bobund Schlittenverband für Deutschland after lending a set of bobsled runners to Russian bobsledder Alexander Zubkov in exchange for a fee.