From Königssee, GER
(Jan. 12, 2019) – For the second time in as many 2-man races, Francesco Friedrich came into the second heat just behind leader Justin Kripps, and for the second time in as many weeks Friedrich put down a huge second run to take gold.
Friedrich trailed Kripps by .03 going into the second run in Königssee. After Johannes Lochner moved into the lead with the co-Olympic champions to come, it was Friedrich’s turn to put down a time. Friedrich’s run was the quickest of the race to put the pressure on Kripps. Kripps answered the call with a very clean run, but just not enough to stay ahead of Friedrich.
The gold medal for Friedrich kept him perfect in the 2018/2019 season, and the silver for Kripps was the second in as many races for the Canadian.
Lochner finished third, ahead of Romain Heinrich, who finished a World Cup career-best fourth. Oskars Kibermanis and Nico Walther tied for fifth.
The 2-man race in Königssee doubled as the European Championships. Friedrich won the gold medal there, with Lochner wining silver and Heinrich bronze.
Canada fared well in Königssee. On top of Kripps’s run, Nick Poloniato scored a top ten after coming into the second heat in 13th place. A 49.90 second run was enough to tie him with Great Britain’s Brad Hall. Both pilots then moved up the order to ninth.
Codie Bascue was the top finishing American with a 16th place finish. Teammate Justin Olsen moved up from 20th to 18th on his second run.
Results:
| Pos | Names | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
| 1 | Friedrich / Grothkopp | GER | 13 | 4.87 | 4.85 | 49.54 | 49.47 | 1:39.01 |
| 2 | Kripps / Stones | CAN | 4 | 4.87 | 4.89 | 49.51 | 49.61 | 1:39.12 |
| 3 | Lochner / Rasp | GER | 21 | 4.88 | 4.87 | 49.67 | 49.77 | 1:39.44 |
| 4 | Heinrich / Hauterville | FRA | 15 | 4.94 | 4.95 | 49.80 | 49.73 | 1:39.53 |
| 5 | Kibermanis / Miknis | LAT | 11 | 4.92 | 4.92 | 49.77 | 49.88 | 1:39.65 |
| 5 | Walther / Krenz | GER | 5 | 4.93 | 4.94 | 49.74 | 49.91 | 1:39.65 |
| 7 | Luty / Tylkowski | POL | 6 | 4.97 | 4.98 | 49.82 | 49.92 | 1:39.74 |
| 8 | Andrianov / Malykh | RUS | 12 | 5.01 | 5.01 | 49.89 | 49.94 | 1:39.83 |
| 9 | Poloniato / Sommer | CAN | 18 | 4.92 | 4.91 | 50.13 | 49.90 | 1:40.03 |
| 9 | Hall / Gleeson | GBR | 3 | 4.90 | 4.89 | 50.06 | 49.97 | 1:40.03 |
| 11 | Treichl / Glück | AUT | 7 | 4.98 | 4.97 | 50.10 | 49.97 | 1:40.07 |
| 12 | de Bruin / Veenker | NED | 20 | 4.98 | 5.01 | 50.23 | 49.93 | 1:40.16 |
| 13 | Bredikhin / Zaytsev | RUS | 8 | 5.01 | 5.02 | 50.03 | 50.19 | 1:40.22 |
| 14 | Dvorak / Nosek | CZE | 10 | 4.92 | 4.89 | 50.25 | 50.01 | 1:40.26 |
| 15 | Vogt / Michel | SUI | 19 | 4.98 | 4.98 | 50.03 | 50.35 | 1:40.38 |
| 16 | Bascue / Abdul-Saboor | USA | 16 | 4.92 | 4.98 | 50.13 | 50.35 | 1:40.48 |
| 17 | Rohner / Fässler | SUI | 22 | 5.01 | 5.04 | 50.22 | 50.33 | 1:40.55 |
| 18 | Olsen / McConnell | USA | 2 | 5.01 | 4.99 | 50.38 | 50.22 | 1:40.60 |
| 19 | Rinaldi / Vain | MON | 17 | 5.03 | 5.04 | 50.36 | 50.28 | 1:40.64 |
| 20 | Won / Kim | KOR | 14 | 4.93 | 4.97 | 50.33 | 50.40 | 1:40.73 |
| 21 | Popov / Korotokov | RUS | 1 | 5.03 | 50.65 | |||
| 21 | Maier / Moldovan | AUT | 9 | 5.54 | 50.65 | |||
| 23 | Silic / Krajisnik | CRO | 23 | 5.25 | 51.18 |
