2-man bobsleigh silver for Johannes Lochner, Benjamin Maier with bronze
Winterberg (RWH) Bobsleigh pilot Francesco Friedrich (GER) started the year 2021 with World Cup victory and European Championship gold. At the BMW IBSF World Cup in Winterberg (GER), the races also counted as European Championships for the athletes from Europe.
In the 2-man bobsleigh, Olympic and World Champion Francesco Friedrich celebrated his eighth victory in the ninth race of the season with push athlete Thorsten Margis and secured the European Championship title for the fifth time. World Cup victory number 45 in total means Friedrich is now tied with record holder among bobsleigh pilots André Lange (GER).
Second place and European Championship silver in Winterberg went to Johannes Lochner/Eric Franke (GER, 0.67 seconds back).
With third place in the World Cup, European Championships bronze in 2-man bobsleigh went to Benjamin Maier/Markus Sammer (AUT, 0.85 seconds back). A historic result: the last European Championship medal in 2-man bobsleigh for Austria was won by Walter Delle Karth in Cervinia (ITA) in 1973.
The Swiss team Michael Vogt/Sandro Michel celebrated their best European Championships result in Winterberg. The duo finished fourth, a good two-tenths of a second short of a medal. Rostislav Gaitiukevich from Russia also achieved his best result so far with Ilya Malykh in fifth.
Athletes from Canada and the USA participated in the BMW IBSF World Cup in Winterberg for the first time this winter. Justin Kripps (CAN), 2018 Olympic 2-man bobsleigh Champion in PyeongChang tied with Francesco Friedrich, finished fifth in the World Cup in Winterberg. The best US team was Codie Bascue/Carlo Valdes in 14th place.
The 2020 European Champion Oskars Kibermanis (LAT) could not defend his title. The Latvian team did not travel to Winterberg after positive Corona tests.
In the overall ranking for the BMW IBSF World Cup 2020/2021 defending champion Francesco Friedrich (GER, 2010 points) extended his lead. Johannes Lochner (GER, 1849) follows in second place ahead of Michael Vogt (SUI, 1610) in third place overall.
For more detailed information including athlete profiles and World Cup results please visit ibsf.org. Photos for editorial use can be found at Flickr. ©RWH2021
Photos: IBSF / Viesturs Lacis
