From Altenberg, GER
(January 14, 2023) – Johannes Lochner set out to win his third straight two-man World Cup gold medal on Saturday, and did so with authority.
Lochner and brakeman Georg Fleischhauer set the two quickest starts of the competition, and Lochner matched those with the two best drives of the race. The duo had the quickest split in both heats on their way to a .43 second victory, Lochner’s biggest of the season.
The gold medal was Lochner’s third straight, all with Fleischhauer on his brakes. It was Lochner’s eighth gold medal in two-man bobsled, he also has 15 silvers and nine bronzes.
Brad Hall was the only pilot who came close to matching Lochner’s times. He and Taylor Lawrence had the second quickest start in both heats and managed to stay within a quarter of a second of the German in both heats. The silver was the British pilot’s sixth of his career. He’s medaled in every race during the 2022/2023 two-man season except for in Lake Placid.
Germany’s Francesco Friedrich, the track record holder, finished third. Still nursing a muscle pull from the Christmas break, he wasn’t able to fully help push off the top and while Alexander Schüller did give him a strong effort their starts left the duo out of the running before they got going. That said, they set the third quickest run in both heats to win bronze, Friedrich’s ninth of his career and first since 2016.
Germany’s Christoph Hafer finished fourth, ahead of Austria’s Markus Treichl in fifth. Latvia’s Emils Cipulis moved up from eighth in the first heat to finish sixth.
Canada’s Taylor Austin put down two solid runs to finish ninth.
With three races to go in the IBSF World Cup two-man bobsled season, Lochner holds a 31 point lead over Friedrich, with Hall 53 points back. Christoph Hafer and Markus Treichl sit fourth and fifth.
Results:
| Pos | Names | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
| 1 | Lochner / Fleischhauer | GER | 5 | 5.16 | 5.14 | 54.39 | 54.81 | 1:49.20 |
| 2 | Hall / Lawrence | GBR | 7 | 5.19 | 5.19 | 54.59 | 55.04 | 1:49.63 |
| 3 | Freidrich / Schüller | GER | 9 | 5.30 | 5.37 | 55.01 | 55.25 | 1:50.26 |
| 4 | Hafer / Sommer | GER | 12 | 5.38 | 5.39 | 55.16 | 55.26 | 1:50.42 |
| 5 | Treichl / Sammer | AUT | 6 | 5.31 | 5.31 | 55.27 | 55.37 | 1:50.64 |
| 6 | Cipulis / Miknis | LAT | 13 | 5.26 | 5.28 | 55.60 | 55.57 | 1:51.17 |
| 7 | Variola / Obou | ITA | 4 | 5.26 | 5.27 | 55.55 | 55.68 | 1:51.23 |
| 7 | Li / Ding | CHN | 1 | 5.31 | 5.34 | 55.37 | 55.86 | 1:51.23 |
| 9 | Austin / Murray-Law | CAN | 11 | 5.39 | 5.46 | 55.88 | 55.76 | 1:51.64 |
| 10 | Dobes / Zalesky | CZE | 8 | 5.31 | 5.32 | 55.95 | 56.26 | 1:52.21 |
| 11 | Dvorak / Dobes | CZE | 10 | 5.37 | 5.34 | 56.16 | 56.32 | 1:52.48 |
| 12 | Silic / Starek | CRO | 3 | 5.95 | 5.87 | 57.08 | 57.39 | 1:54.47 |
| DNS | Kalenda / Kleinbergs | LAT | 2 | 5.28 | 59.64 | DNS |
