Hall Wins Altenberg Gold

From Altenberg, GER

(January 15, 2023) – To say Brad Hall and his British four-man team is on a roll may be an understatement. The four-man program for Great Britain may be sliding as well as it ever has, and little could show that more than Hall winning gold in Altenberg ahead of a trio of German standouts.

Hall’s squad gave him two solid pushes, with the second start being the fastest of the competition. In the first heat a .09 advantage over Christoph Hafer’s team was what Hall needed to keep ahead of the big German, as Hall led by .07 after one run.

In the second heat Hall’s team threw down a 5.06 off the top, only .05 off the start record. Hall’s drive was very good, as he kept the team ahead all the way down the German track. Despite a couple late skids, Hall was able to hold on for gold, winning by a combined .09 over Hafer.

The gold for Hall was his second in three four-man bobsled races. He has been on the four-man podium four times in five races this season.

Hafer’s second run, while not quite good enough to get him atop the podium, was still strong enough for a silver medal, his first in World Cup four-man action.

Johannes Lochner’s team gave him a pair of 5.08 starts, and Lochner used those to finish third, .26 out of gold.

An injured Francesco Friedrich still had a pair of strong starts, but had one forgettable drive. He sat sixth after the first heat, but threw down the fastest run of the competition in the second run to move up from sixth to fourth. It was the first time he’d missed out on an Altenberg podium since January, 2015 when he finished fifth in both the two-man and four-man events.

The race also was the retirement race for one of Friedrich’s brakemen, Martin Grothkopp. Throughout the stands there were “Danke Martin” signs showing support for the long-time push athlete. Through his career he won 17 World Cup gold medals, four World Championships and gold in the 2018 Olympic Games. In total he pushed to 41 medals in his career.

Markus Treichl finished fifth, which tied a career best set earlier in the season in Whistler. Latvian Emils Cipulis backed up a career-best World Cup finish in the two-man sled a day earlier with another career-best in the four-man with a sixth place effort.

Despite trouble loading in the sled in both heats, Taylor Austin and his team scored an eighth place finish for Canada.

With three races remaining in the 2022/2023 IBSF World Cup four-man season, Francesco Friedrich holds a 15 point lead over Brad Hall, with Johannes Lochner 99 points out in third. Markus Treichl and Austin Taylor round out the top five.

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