From Altenberg, GER
(December 7, 2024) – It’s a new two-man bobsled season on the IBSF World Cup, but it’s the same old story with Francesco Friedrich dominating the season opener on his home track in Altenberg.
Friedrich paired up with new brakeman Simon Wulff, the U20 100 meter European champion, and in their first World Cup start together the duo broke the track record held previously by Justin Kripps and Alex Kopacz. Their firs downtime was .35 ahead of either of their team sleds, with Johannes Lochner and Georg Fleischhauer .35 back and Adam and Issam Ammour .55 back.
The second heat saw more of the same. Friedrich and Wulff matched their 5.07 start, and while Friedrich couldn’t quite match the drive of his first run, his second effort was still quicker than anyone else in either run as he won by .41 over Lochner and Fleishhauer.
The win was Friedrich’s 48th in two-man bobsled and his seventh two-man gold in Altenberg. It came in his 100th two-man bobsled start. He’s won 133 medals between two and four-man bobsled in his career.
Lochner took silver, his 18th, while Ammour took bronze.
The first team off the podium was Great Britain’s Brad Hall and Taylor Lawrence, who finished fourth, well ahead of Jinsu Kim and Hyeonggeun Kim in fifth.
Italians Patrick Baumgartner and Robert Mircea rounded out the top six, up from 11th in the first heat with the fifth quickest time in the second run.
The United States’ Frank Del Duca and Dylan Gilbert slid to a 14th place finish, four spots ahead of Great Britain’s Adam Baird and Austin Milward in 18th.
Lichtenstein’s Martin Kranz and Lorenz Lenherr finished 22nd.
Results:
| Pos | Names | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
| 1 | Friedrich / Wulff | GER | 6 | 5.07 | 5.07 | 54.28 | 54.39 | 1:48.67 |
| 2 | Lochner / Fleischhauer | GER | 13 | 5.15 | 5.14 | 54.63 | 54.45 | 1:49.08 |
| 3 | Ammour / Ammour | GER | 8 | 5.16 | 5.18 | 54.83 | 54.65 | 1:49.48 |
| 4 | Hall / Lawrence | GBR | 17 | 5.21 | 5.21 | 54.98 | 54.86 | 1:49.84 |
| 5 | Kim / Kim | KOR | 10 | 5.21 | 5.23 | 55.15 | 55.12 | 1:50.27 |
| 6 | Baumgartner / Mircea | ITA | 9 | 5.35 | 5.33 | 55.40 | 54.96 | 1:50.36 |
| 7 | Kalenda / Miknis | LAT | 14 | 5.26 | 5.23 | 55.35 | 55.12 | 1:50.47 |
| 8 | Li / Shi | CHN | 4 | 5.40 | 5.28 | 55.39 | 55.09 | 1:50.48 |
| 9 | Follador / Rolli | SUI | 12 | 5.38 | 5.38 | 55.30 | 55.24 | 1:50.54 |
| 10 | Rohner / Hersperger | SUI | 15 | 5.38 | 5.40 | 55.39 | 55.17 | 1:50.56 |
| 11 | Treichl / Nichols-Bardi | AUT | 7 | 5.33 | 5.33 | 55.30 | 55.39 | 1:50.69 |
| 12 | Tentea / Iordache | ROU | 11 | 5.35 | 5.34 | 55.62 | 55.17 | 1:50.79 |
| 13 | Mandlbauer / Wiener | AUT | 19 | 5.42 | 5.40 | 55.78 | 55.21 | 1:50.99 |
| 14 | del Duca / Gilbert | USA | 5 | 5.34 | 5.33 | 55.73 | 55.33 | 1:51.06 |
| 15 | Vain / Prevost | MON | 18 | 5.35 | 5.38 | 55.77 | 55.53 | 1:51.30 |
| 16 | Variola / Batti | ITA | 20 | 5.35 | 5.38 | 55.77 | 55.53 | 1:51.30 |
| 17 | Baird / Milward | GBR | 21 | 5.36 | 5.40 | 55.90 | 55.80 | 1:51.70 |
| 18 | Prochazka / Vila | CZE | 22 | 5.28 | 5.32 | 56.05 | 55.65 | 1:51.70 |
| 19 | Behounek / Dobes | CZE | 2 | 5.37 | 5.40 | 56.08 | 55.95 | 1:52.03 |
| 20 | Sun / Wei | CHN | 16 | 5.42 | 5.40 | 55.94 | 55.67 | 1:61.61 |
| 21 | Turea / Dinca | ROU | 3 | 5.43 | 56.18 | |||
| 22 | Kranz / Lenherr | LIE | 1 | 5.56 | 56.19 | |||
| 23 | Nica / Calancea | ROU | 23 | 5.52 | 56.58 |