Königssee (RWH) Olympic Champion Francesco Friedrich celebrated his fourth win in the fourth 2-man bobsleigh race of the winter at the BMW IBSF World Cup in Königssee (GER). With push athlete Martin Grothkopp he secured his third consecutive European Championship title.
After two races on the Königssee sliding track, Friedrich took an 0.11 second lead over Canadian Justin Kripps, who had previously held the lead, and his partner Cameron Stones. Friedrich and Kripps won joint Olympic gold at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang.
World Cup bronze and European Championships silver went to local Königssee hero Johannes Lochner (GER, 0.43 seconds behind) with his partner Christian Rasp.
French duo Romain Heinrich and Dorian Hauterville secured bronze at the European Championships, giving France its first European Championship medal in 2-man bobsleigh. In 2000 and 2002, pilot Bruno Mingeon took home gold and silver respectively in the 4-man bobsleigh.
Francesco Friedrich continues to lead the overall standings in the 2018/2019 BMW/IBSF World Cup with 900 points. Latvia's Oskars Kibermanis (804 points) enters the second half of the season in overall second place, with Nico Walther (GER, 744) coming in third. Today's events in Königssee saw Kibermanis and Walther place joint fifth.
Further information, the World Cup and European Championships results and the latest overall standings are available at ibsf.org. ©RWH2019
Francesco Friedrich (GER, 2018 Olympic Champion, 2013, 2015 2016 + 2017 World Champion)
"We had another two great runs on the ice. It was only the first start that could have been a little better. Right now, everything's going great."
Justin Kripps (CAN, 2018 Olympic Champion, overall World Cup winner in 2018)
"The second World Cup podium finish in a row for us! We performed two good runs again, both in terms of starting and the runs themselves. But it's always difficult to beat the Germans on their home track."
Johannes Lochner (GER, runner-up in the 2016, 2017 and +2019 European Championships, runner-up in the 2015 + 2016 World Championships)
"It was obvious that my bobsleigh and I haven't quite hit it off. But it'll be fine by the end of the season, so right now we're extremely happy. We were runners-up in last year's European Championships too - the fact that we could do it again in what has been a pretty messed up season so far, well, hopefully this will be our breakthrough."
Romain Heinrich (FRA, bronze at the 2019 European Championships)
"To be honest, I dreamed about this medal last night. When I woke up, I said to myself that if everything goes well - the start, the runs, everything - then we have a tiny chance. And now it's come true. It's going to take a while for me to stop smiling."
