Local hero Yunjong Won in second ahead of Nico Walther
PyeongChang (RWH): The Olympic champion in the 2-man bobsleigh Francesco Friedrich (GER) is on track to win a second gold at the halfway point in the 4-man event. Friedrich and his brake crew of Candy Bauer, Martin Grothkopp and Thorsten Margis currently have a 0.29-second lead over local heroes Yunjong Won/Youngwoo Seo/Junglin Jun/Donghyun Kim of Korea.
After two of four heats at the Olympic Sliding Centre, Nico Walther (GER, 0.35 seconds back) is in third place with his crew of Kevin Kuske, Christian Poser and Eric Franke.
Canada’s Justin Kripps – who finished joint first in the 2-man event to share Olympic gold with Friedrich – ended the first day of racing in the 4-man event in fourth place (0.58 seconds back) with his brakemen Jesse Lumsden, Alexander Kopacz and Oluseyi Smith.
Fifth place is currently held by not one but three teams with the same time: Rico Peter (SUI), Oskars Melbardis (LAT) and Johannes Lochner (GER) are all 0.66 seconds behind the leader. ©RWH2018
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Francesco Friedrich (GER, tenth at the 2014 Olympics, 2018 World Champion in joint first with Johannes Lochner)
“We had two good starts and two good runs. The gap to second place really only gives us a little bit of safety; anything can happen yet.”
Yunjong Won (KOR, 20th in the 2014 Olympics, 15th in the overall World Cup in 2017)
“I don’t really mind whether I now have to start last like in the 2-man or first like in the 4-man. I just focus on myself and don’t worry about the others. I always want to do my best.”
Nico Walther (GER, World Championship silver medallist 2015, second in the European Championships 2017, third overall in the World Cup 2018)
“I’m not surprised that Yunjong Won is doing so well here; the signs were already there during training. However, the big gaps in time are pretty unusual. I wouldn't have expected them to be so big. My goal for tomorrow is to finally take home a medal.”
