From Yanqing, CHN
(November 18, 2023) – There were some new names in the mix for medals in Yanqing, with China’s Kaizhi Sun and Latvia’s Emils Cipulis both contending for gold, but after two heats on the 2022 Olympic track it was familiar faces atop the podium.
The first heat was far tighter than in the two-man competition a day earlier. Sun went off first and held that lead throughout the heat. Cipulis and Johannes Lochner ended their runs only .02 back, while Francesco Friedrich was only .05 back, with all three pilots making up ground below the Kreisel.
Of the medal contenders, Friedrich went first in the second heat and put down an otherwise quick and clean run. It was plenty enough to take the lead with German teammate Lochner up next. Lochner’s effort ended up being the best run of the day and more than enough to take the lead.
That left Cipulis and Sun to try to overtake the two Germans, with both men looking for their first World Cup medal.
Cipulis was first off the top. His team gave him a push that Latvia is known for, but he was unable to match either Lochner or Friedrich’s drive as he found himself in third with Sun to go.
Sun may have had a slight advantage in the first heat with fresh ice, but his drive in his second heat looked to be nearly as good. A few small issues above the Kreisel left him behind either German, but he was good enough on the rest of the run to hang onto third to give China its first ever four-man bobsled medal.
Johannes Lochner took gold, the tenth of his four-man bobsled World Cup career and first since the 2019/2020 season. Friedrich’s silver was his 15th and 48th four-man medal of his career.
Cipulis, the 2023 World Championships co-silver medalist, finished fourth for the third straight World Cup race. Michael Vogt of Switzerland finished fifth, while Italy’s Patrick Baumgartner tied a career-best finish in four-man bobsled with a sixth place finish.
The four-man World Cup tour will race again on Sunday on the Olympic track in Yanqing before the tour makes its way west to La Plagne for its first stop there since January 2020.
The American and Canadian teams, as well as a few others, are training and racing elsewhere prior to joining up with the tour in France.
Results:
| Pos | Names | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
| 1 | Lochner / Fleischhauer / Bruckert / Bauer | GER | 9 | 4.95 | 4.94 | 58.60 | 58.44 | 1:57.04 |
| 2 | Friedrich / Margis / Schüller / Bauer | GER | 7 | 4.97 | 4.93 | 58.63 | 58.68 | 1:57.31 |
| 3 | Sun / Ding / Ye / Zhen | CHN | 1 | 4.95 | 4.99 | 58.58 | 58.86 | 1:57.44 |
| 4 | Cipulis / Springis / Miknis / Lindenblats | LAT | 5 | 4.93 | 4.98 | 58.60 | 58.96 | 1:57.56 |
| 5 | Vogt / Kyger / Knuser / Michel | SUI | 6 | 5.09 | 5.10 | 58.79 | 58.84 | 1:57.63 |
| 6 | Baumgartner / Fantazzini / Mircea / Bilotti | ITA | 8 | 5.07 | 5.04 | 58.92 | 58.81 | 1:57.73 |
| 7 | Li / Wei / Zhu / Chi | CHN | 3 | 5.01 | 5.02 | 59.04 | 58.85 | 1:57.89 |
| 7 | Follador / Vögele / Hufschmid / Jones | SUI | 10 | 5.04 | 5.02 | 59.02 | 58.87 | 1:57.89 |
| 9 | Treichl / Stepan / Mitterer / Huber | AUT | 2 | 5.01 | 5.02 | 58.92 | 59.10 | 1:58.02 |
| 10 | Friedli / Moser / Rolli / Haas | SUI | 11 | 4.97 | 4.96 | 59.16 | 59.14 | 1:58.30 |
| 11 | Kalenda / Ungurs / Kaufmanis / Klava | LAT | 4 | 5.05 | 5.04 | 59.43 | 59.37 | 1:58.80 |
