From Lake Placid, USA
(March 22, 2024) – Francesco Friedrich capped his 2023/2024 World Cup two-man season with a gold medal in Lake Placid.
Friedrich and brakeman Alexander Schüller slid to the lead by .14 over teammates Johannes Lochner and Joshua Tasche after Friedrich slid to within .08 of the 21 year old track record.
The second heat saw Lochner, the winningest two-man pilot of the season, slide to the lead well ahead of teammate Adam Ammour. Friedrich answered with a second run that was once again just over a tenth ahead of Lochner to give him a .25 second victory.
While he didn’t get the track record, Friedrich was thrilled with the track conditions on his way to victory.
“They did a really great job with the track,” Friedrich said. “During training it was really bumpy, and from day to day the track got continually better and faster. Today was the best, though the Curve 7 to Curve 8 section was crazy and you had to be almost perfect. We did it great today, but tomorrow would be special in the four-man.”
Friedrich’s victory in Lake Placid was his first in two-man competition this season, and 47th gold in his two-man career. It was his third victory in five two-man races on the track.
Lochner’s silver medal gave him six medals in seven races on the season after skipping Altenberg due to an injury sustained in a training crash.
Ammour and brakeman Benedikt Hertel gave Germany a sweep of the two-man podium for the third time of the season. It was Ammour’s fourth straight two-man medal.
Just off the podium in fourth was Switzerland’s Michael Vogt and Andreas Haas. Vogt, making his first start after a terrible crash in Altenberg, moved up from fifth in the first heat to take his seventh top five in seven races.
USA’s Frank Del Duca and Manteo Mitchell finished fifth, two tenths of a second ahead of teammates Kris Horn and Josh Williamson in sixth. Horn and Williamson were only out-pushed by Friedrich and Lochner, and their second effort was the fourth quickest run of the second heat.
Canada’s Taylor Austin and Shaq Lawrence-Murray finished tenth, while teammates Pat Norton and Mike Evelyn finished 17th.
Adam Baird and Luka Williams, the lone British crew in the competition, finished 15th in Baird’s first look at the American track.
Friedrich’s gold was enough to give him the season-long two-man bobsled title, 163 points ahead of Lochner. Ammour finished out the sweep of the podium, seven points ahead of Michael Vogt in fourth.
Latvia’s Emils Cipulis finished the race in eighth and finished fifth overall.
Results:
| Pos | Names | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
| 1 | Friedirch / Schüller | GER | 5 | 5.08 | 5.05 | 54.69 | 55.01 | 1:49.70 |
| 2 | Lochner / Tasche | GER | 13 | 5.09 | 5.06 | 54.83 | 55.12 | 1:49.95 |
| 3 | Ammour / Hertel | GER | 4 | 5.12 | 5.06 | 55.19 | 55.41 | 1:50.60 |
| 4 | Vogt / Haas | SUI | 6 | 5.20 | 5.22 | 55.31 | 55.62 | 1:50.93 |
| 5 | del Duca / Mitchell | USA | 8 | 5.13 | 5.17 | 55.21 | 55.75 | 1:50.96 |
| 6 | Horn / Williamson | USA | 15 | 5.09 | 5.10 | 55.61 | 55.55 | 1:51.16 |
| 7 | Kim / Kim | KOR | 14 | 5.13 | 5.16 | 55.44 | 55.74 | 1:51.18 |
| 8 | Cipulis / Miknis | LAT | 9 | 5.12 | 5.13 | 55.41 | 55.78 | 1:51.19 |
| 9 | Treichl / Sammer | AUT | 10 | 5.10 | 5.16 | 55.46 | 55.78 | 1:51.24 |
| 10 | Austin / Murray-Lawrence | CAN | 17 | 5.33 | 5.31 | 55.67 | 55.72 | 1:51.39 |
| 11 | Baumgartner / Mircea | ITA | 11 | 5.19 | 5.18 | 55.58 | 55.98 | 1:51.56 |
| 12 | Friedli / Rolli | SUI | 7 | 5.13 | 5.32 | 55.63 | 56.16 | 1:51.79 |
| 13 | Kalenda / Nemme | LAT | 2 | 5.23 | 5.28 | 55.85 | 56.17 | 1:52.02 |
| 14 | Follador / Hufschmid | SUI | 12 | 5.30 | 5.33 | 56.02 | 56.27 | 1:52.29 |
| 15 | Baird / Williams | GBR | 19 | 5.30 | 5.34 | 56.25 | 56.59 | 1:52.84 |
| 16 | Variola / Batti | ITA | 3 | 5.29 | 5.31 | 56.23 | 56.68 | 1:52.91 |
| 17 | Norton / Evelyn | CAN | 16 | 5.27 | 5.41 | 56.41 | 56.99 | 1:53.40 |
| DNF | Mandlbauer / Nichols-Bardi | AUT | 18 | 5.25 | 56.74 | DNF | ||
| DSQ | Vain / Riou | MON | 1 | DSQ |
