From Whistler, CAN
(November 25, 2022) – It’s a new season, a new quad, and the same results for Francesco Friedrich, as the German took gold in the season opening two-man bobsled race in Whistler.
It didn’t come easy for Friedrich. The defending world and Olympic champion held only a .01 second advantage over Great Britain’s Brad Hall entering the second heat. Hall put down a strong second run, setting the quickest start of the heat with brakeman Taylor Lawrence and completing what was a near-flawless drive.
That put, in theory, pressure on Friedrich. It did look for a moment like Friedrich might crack, as he and Alexander Schüller were out-started by the Brits and were even at the first two splits. At the bottom half of the track Friedrich began to pull away, eventually winning by .11 over Hall, with Olympic silver medalist Johannes Lochner winning bronze.
The gold for Friedrich was his 15th in his last 16 races. It’s his 45th gold medal in two-man bobsled and his 101st medal in his career.
For Hall, the silver medal in two-man was his fourth, but his first in North America. His previous three have been split between Sigulda (twice in 2022) and Igls (2020). He also has a handful of four-man silver medals split between Winterberg and Igls.
Lochner’s bronze medal was the ninth two-man bronze of his career. For his brakeman, Erec Bruckert, the medal was his second.
Michael Vogt was the odd man out after being edged off the podium by Lochner by just .02. Christoph Hafer was right there in contention but finished fifth, while Canada’s Taylor Austin rounded out the top six.
The United States’ Frank Del Duca had a strong push with brakeman Hakeem Abdul-Saboor, but tragedy hit on the exit of the 50/50 curve as the American sled tipped over. Del Duca got the sled to the finish, well off the pace as they finished tenth.
Like in the women’s race earlier in the day, the field’s sled count was relatively low due to a combination of retirements, injuries, sliders taking a season or two off, and teams choosing to spend the first half of the year in Europe.
Results:
| Pos | Names | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
| 1 | Friedrich / Schüller | GER | 7 | 4.77 | 4.80 | 51.03 | 51.19 | 1:42.22 |
| 2 | Hall / Lawrence | GBR | 4 | 4.78 | 4.79 | 51.04 | 51.29 | 1:42.33 |
| 3 | Lochner / Bruckert | GER | 2 | 4.83 | 4.86 | 51.15 | 51.53 | 1:42.68 |
| 4 | Vogt / Michel | SUI | 5 | 4.82 | 4.86 | 51.23 | 51.47 | 1:42.70 |
| 5 | Hafer / Sommer | GER | 9 | 4.89 | 4.93 | 51.29 | 51.45 | 1:42.74 |
| 6 | Austin / Murray-Lawrence | CAN | 10 | 4.87 | 4.91 | 51.44 | 51.58 | 1:43.02 |
| 7 | Treichl / Huber | AUT | 3 | 4.88 | 4.94 | 51.74 | 51.68 | 1:43.42 |
| 8 | Friedli / Haas | SUI | 1 | 4.85 | 4.87 | 51.65 | 51.79 | 1:43.44 |
| 9 | Follador / Mariani | SUI | 8 | 4.92 | 4.95 | 51.88 | 54.42 | 1:46.30 |
| 10 | Del Duca / Abdul-Saboor | USA | 6 | 4.85 | 5.09 | 54.56 | 52.31 | 1:46.87 |
