From Lake Placid, USA
(December 18, 2022) – The four-man bobsled race in Lake Placid had all the hallmarks of a great race: Lots of close racing, traditional medal contenders in the hunt, and different sleds had the quick runs of each heat.
As the IBSF World Cup entered its final heat of 2022, German pilot Christoph Hafer held a slim .01 second advantage over Switzerland’s Michael Vogt. Great Britain’s Brad Hall and Germany’s Francesco Friedrich both were within a tenth of a second in third and fourth, while Johannes Lochner was only .14 back in fifth.
On the second run Lochner’s team set the quick start time of the competition and slid into the lead. Friedrich was next, and all he did was put down the quickest run of the heat to take the top spot over.
Brad Hall’s British squad was next. They matched Team Lochner’s start off the top, and Hall drove them to the lead, edging out Friedrich by only .01 at the line.
Vogt, who was looking for his first four-man World Cup medal, had major trouble at the start as a member of his team nearly didn’t make it into the sled. While the rest of Team Vogt were able to pull him in, Vogt fell down to tenth place and out of the medals.
That left Germany’s Christoph Hafer between Hall and his first career World Cup gold. Hafer, who was also looking for his first career gold medal as well, couldn’t match his nearly flawless first run and fell down to third, only .14 out of the lead, giving Hall the win.
The victory for Hall came in his first four-man race in Lake Placid. Afterward, Hall was understandably thrilled with his team’s effort.
“Training went ridiculously well so we knew we had a chance with my first four-man race here. We were very optimistic and knew we had a start, but this is a diver’s track and we knew it would play into our favor,” Hall said. “We knew we were in for a good show in the second heat, the boys gave me the fastest start and that got us to the top of the podium by just .01, so we needed every bit of that push today!”
It was Great Britain’s first four-man gold medal since 2017 (Lamin Deen).
Friedrich took silver, only .01 back behind Hall. It was his 43rd four-man bobsled medal. Hafer’s bronze was his second straight.
Lochner, the previous day’s two-man gold medalist, finished fourth. His team had the fastest start time in each heat. Swiss pilot Cedric Follador scored his best ever World Cup finish with a fifth place effort.
Frank Del Duca entered the second heat in 11th place. On the second run he and his team put down the fifth quickest run to move into the lead, a lead he held for three sleds. Eventually, Del Duca was tied by Canada’s Taylor Austin. Both teams would eventually finish sixth.
Canada’s Pat Norton finished 11th, one spot ahead of USA’s Geoff Gadbois in 12th.
With the World Cup season hitting the holiday break, Francesco Friedrich is the World Cup point leader, 33 points ahead of Brad Hall in second. Johannes Lochner, Taylor Austin, and Markus Treichl round out the top five.
Results:
| Pos | Names | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
| 1 | Hall / Gulliver / Lawrence / Cackett | GBR | 11 | 5.07 | 5.04 | 55.18 | 55.18 | 1:50.36 |
| 2 | Friedrich / Margis / Bauer / Straub | GER | 7 | 5.10 | 5.06 | 55.20 | 55.17 | 1:50.37 |
| 3 | Hafer / Salzer / Korona / Schneider | GER | 1 | 5.12 | 5.11 | 55.12 | 55.31 | 1:50.43 |
| 4 | Lochner / Bauer / Bruckert / Rasp | GER | 9 | 5.06 | 5.04 | 55.26 | 55.42 | 1:50.68 |
| 5 | Follador / Mariani / Hufschmid / Dörig | SUI | 13 | 5.23 | 5.18 | 55.48 | 55.56 | 1:51.04 |
| 6 | Austin / Gray / Murray-Law / Gosselin | CAN | 10 | 5.23 | 5.28 | 55.52 | 55.67 | 1:51.19 |
| 6 | Del Duca / Adams / Christofferson / Mitchell | USA | 8 | 5.12 | 5.12 | 55.65 | 55.54 | 1:51.19 |
| 8 | Treichl / Stepan / Sammer / Huber | AUT | 12 | 5.12 | 5.11 | 55.55 | 55.74 | 1:51.29 |
| 9 | Friedli / Orsinger / Jones / Haas | SUI | 6 | 5.17 | 5.15 | 55.64 | 55.76 | 1:51.40 |
| 10 | Vogt / Bieri / Knuser / Michel | SUI | 4 | 5.09 | 5.09 | 55.13 | 56.49 | 1:51.62 |
| 11 | Norton / Ashley / Caixeiro / Fraser | CAN | 2 | 5.31 | 5.29 | 55.63 | 56.11 | 1:51.74 |
| 12 | Gadbois / Vissering / Willey / Joseph | USA | 5 | 5.23 | 5.25 | 55.98 | 55.89 | 1:51.87 |
| DNS | Bindilatti / da Silva / Jeronimo / Martins | BRA | 3 | 5.25 | 56.91 | DNS |
