Oskars Kibermanis second in 4-man bobsleigh ahead of Justin Kripps
Innsbruck (RWH) Olympic and World Champion Francesco Friedrich (GER) remains unbeaten in 4-man bobsleigh - and has been for almost two years: February 2020 in St. Moritz was the last time he did not stand on the podium as the winner. With his victory in the large sled at the BMW IBSF World Cup in Innsbruck, Friedrich has since won two World Championship titles, two overall World Cups and six World Cup races in 4-man bobsleigh.
In the second World Cup of the Olympic season Francesco Friedrich with Thorsten Margis, Martin Grothkopp and Alexander Schueller as the push athletes team had a 0.28-second lead over Oskars Kibermanis (LAT) with Davis Springis, Matiss Miknis and Intars Dambis. Kibermanis, the 2019 World Championships silver medallist, raced from sixth to the podium with the second-best time in the second run.
The same was achieved in Innsbruck by Justin Kripps (CAN, 0.33 seconds back) with Ryan Sommer, Cameron Stones and Benjamin Coakwell. The Canadians, tied with Oskars Kibermanis' team in sixth place after the first race run, came in third in the end.
Rostislav Gaitiukevich (RUS), the 2020 Junior World Champion, finished fourth ahead of the tied teams of Hunter Church (USA) and local hero Benjamin Maier (AUT).
In the overall 4-man Bobsleigh ranking for the BMW IBSF World Cup 2021/2022 Francesco Friedrich (GER, 450 points) leads ahead of Oskars Kibermanis (LAT, 394) and Johannes Lochner (GER, 378), who dropped from second to seventh place in the second run in Innsbruck.
For more detailed information including athlete profiles and results please visit ibsf.org. Photos for editorial use can be found at Flickr. ©RWH2021
