European Champion Brad Hall and Emils Cipulis from Latvia tie for silver in St. Moritz
St. Moritz (RWH) Francesco Friedrich (GER) is the 2023 4-man bobsleigh World Champion: At the BMW IBSF World Championships in St. Moritz (SUI), the Olympic Champion of 2018 and 2022 claimed World Championship gold in the large sled for the fifth time. On the Olympia Bobrun St. Moritz-Celerina Friedrich with Thorsten Margis, Candy Bauer and Alexander Schueller as push team had four best times at the start and in the final run once again gained season track record (1:04,73 minutes). In the end, the Friedrich team was 0.69 seconds ahead of second place.
World Championship silver was awarded twice this time in St. Moritz, for the first time in more than 90 years of World Championship history in 4-man bobsleigh: European Champion Brad Hall (GBR) with Arran Gulliver, Taylor Lawrence and Greg Cackett and the Latvian team of Emils Cipulis with Davis Springis, Matiss Miknis and Edgars Nemme tied for second place after the four World Championship race runs.
World Championship silver in 4-man bobsleigh is a historic medal for the British team: 1939 in Cortina d'Ampezzo (ITA) was the last time a British 4-man bobsleigh pilot stood on the World Championship podium with Frederick McEvoy, the team finished second. The Briton had won the World Championship title in 4-man bobsleigh in 1937 and 1938 respectively.
The previous last World Championship medal in 4-man bobsleigh for Latvia had been won in 2019 in Whistler (CAN) by Oskars Ķibermanis/Arvis Vilkaste/Janis Strenga/Matiss Miknis, the quartet won silver.
Olympic silver medalist Johannes Lochner (GER) had to replace Christian Rasp with Joshua Tasche due to injury before the first day of racing, and Georg Fleischhauer dropped out due to illness before the second day of the World Championships, with Kevin Korona filling in for him. The team Lochner/Bruckert/Korona/Tasche finished fourth.
Local hero Michael Vogt (SUI), the 2023 European Championships bronze medalist, finished fifth on his home track in St. Moritz with Silvio Weber, Cyril Bieri and Sandro Michel.
For more detailed information including athlete profiles and results please visit ibsf.org. Photos for editorial use can be found at Flickr. ©RWH2023
Francesco Friedrich (GER, World Championship gold 2923, Olympic champion 2018+2022, five times World champion).
"We tweaked every detail again, arrived with new runners, changed the seating positions. Everything was just right there. When Brad Hall's run in the fourth run wasn't quite flawless, I knew the door was open."
Brad Hall (GBR, 2023 World Championship silver medalist, 2023 European champion)
„I am very happy with the medal. Our last run was very rocky, I made it hard for ourselves. So it’s fantastic, the first medal for Great Britain in 4-man Bob since 1939. It’s been al long time coming.“
Photos: IBSF / Viesturs Lacis
