Germany poised for 2-man bobsled sweep, with Friedrich and Lochner set to fight for gold
LAKE PLACID, N.Y. (AP) — German teammates Francesco Friedrich and Johannes Lochner have separated themselves from the pack going into the final two-man run at the world bobsled championships.
Friedrich and Alexander Schüller lead Lochner and Georg Fleischhauer by 0.06 seconds going into the fourth and final heat, after the two drivers turned in the two fastest competitive runs in Mount Van Hoevenberg history in their third heats on Sunday morning.
Friedrich’s three-run time is 2:44.35 as he chases what would be his ninth two-man world championship. Lochner’s three-run time is 2:44.41.
The fourth run is set for Sunday afternoon.
Friedrich was first down the mountain Sunday and set the tone by completing Run 3 in 54.60 seconds, a track record — shaving 0.01 seconds off the mark that Pierre Lueders of Canada set 22 years ago.
And Friedrich held the record for about two minutes.
Lochner got down in 54.52 seconds, cutting Friedrich’s overall lead going into the final heat to 0.06 seconds.
Germany is in position to sweep the two-man medals, with Adam Ammour and Benedikt Hertel still third in 2:44.87. That’s a quarter-second ahead of Frank Del Duca and Charlie Volker of the U.S., the only other sled with legitimate medal hopes going into the final heat.
Friedrich got five wins in the World Cup season and Lochner won four times. There are only eight races — the German stars actually tied for the win in one of those events, and through 19 competitive two-man runs this season Friedrich’s two-man sled is a mere 1.1 seconds faster than Lochner’s.
___
AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/winter-oly