From Igls, AUT
(January 18, 2025) – The track in Igls has been basically the same for nearly 50 years, but with a reconfiguration set to conclude after the 2024/2025 World Cup season, there was one chance left to be the fastest pilot ever on the current configuration. And with seemingly near-perfect conditions, two legends of the sport took a shot at it.
Francesco Friedrich was the fourth pilot off the block in the first heat. He and Alexander Schüller were off the top with a 5.09 start, and Friedrich slid to a 58.80, enough to take the lead and break teammate Johannes Lochner’s old track record of 50.88.
But that record only held for about two minutes, as Lochner and Georg Fleischhauer were .02 quicker off the top and .05 quicker at the bottom to drop the record to a 50.75.
The two pilots were on their own to contend for gold and take their shot at the record one more time.
Of the two, Friedrich was first. He and Schüller pushed another 5.09 at the top, and were within .03 of their downtime in the first heat, easily into the lead.
But Lochner wouldn’t be denied. He and Fleischhauer pushed .02 quicker, a race-quickest 5.05 start. Lochner’s drive was nearly perfect, and the duo crossed the line with a 50.72, .03 quicker than their first heat and a combined .16 ahead of Friedrich and Schüller.
The track record will stand forever, as the tour will slide on a reconfigured Igls in the coming seasons.
Lochner’s gold was his second straight after a tie with Friedrich in the previous week’s race in St. Moritz. He’s the only pilot to finish ahead of Friedrich in any Igls two-man race since 2015.
Friedrich’s silver was his 83rd medal of his two-man career.
Behind the two German sleds sat yet another German sled. Adam Ammour and Nick Stadelmann slid to third place. Their second start was the second quickest of the race.
Frank Del Duca slid to a fourth-place finish with Charlie Volker on his brakes. That finish matched career-best finishes in La Plagne, and Igls in the 2023/2024 season.
Brad Hall and Lawrence Taylor slid to a fifth place finish, while Latvia’s Jekabs Kalenda and Matiss Miknis were sixth.
Taylor Austin and Mike Evelyn slid to a 19th place finish in Igls, two places ahead of Canadian teammates Pat Norton and Keaton Bruggeling in 21st. One spot behind Norton was Great Britain’s Adam Baird and Austin Milward in 22nd.
With two races to go in the 2024/2025 IBSF World Cup two-man season, Francesco Friedrich leads Johannes Lochner by 15 points. Brad Hall is third, with Patrick Baumgartner fourth and Frank Del Duca fifth.
Results:
| Pos | Names | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
| 1 | Lochner / Fleischhauer | GER | 5 | 5.07 | 5.05 | 50.75 | 50.72 | 1:41.47 |
| 2 | Friedrich / Schüller | GER | 4 | 5.09 | 5.09 | 50.80 | 50.83 | 1:41.63 |
| 3 | Ammour Stadelmann | GER | 9 | 5.12 | 5.06 | 50.94 | 50.90 | 1:41.84 |
| 4 | Del Duca / Volker | USA | 11 | 5.16 | 5.15 | 51.05 | 51.18 | 1:42.23 |
| 5 | Hall / Lawrence | GBR | 10 | 5.14 | 5.17 | 51.20 | 51.26 | 1:42.46 |
| 6 | Kalenda / Miknis | LAT | 7 | 5.15 | 5.13 | 51.43 | 51.24 | 1:42.67 |
| 7 | Kim / Kim | KOR | 16 | 5.11 | 5.12 | 51.43 | 51.32 | 1:42.75 |
| 8 | Wesselink / Franjic | NED | 3 | 5.17 | 5.15 | 51.35 | 51.51 | 1:42.86 |
| 9 | Baumgartner / Mircea | ITA | 12 | 5.24 | 5.23 | 51.47 | 51.40 | 1:42.87 |
| 10 | Vogt / Ndiaye | SUI | 22 | 5.22 | 5.22 | 51.53 | 51.39 | 1:42.92 |
| 11 | Li / Shi | CHN | 14 | 5.20 | 5.20 | 51.44 | 51.53 | 1:42.97 |
| 12 | Tentea / Iordache | ROU | 17 | 5.25 | 5.24 | 51.59 | 51.44 | 1:43.03 |
| 13 | Mandlbauer / Bertschler | AUT | 24 | 5.16 | 5.19 | 51.59 | 51.46 | 1:43.05 |
| 14 | Verginer / Lambrughi | ITA | 1 | 5.13 | 5.13 | 51.52 | 61.56 | 1:43.08 |
| 15 | Rohner / Hersperger | SUI | 13 | 5.24 | 5.25 | 51.58 | 51.57 | 1:43.15 |
| 16 | Sun / Zhen | CHN | 19 | 5.21 | 5.19 | 51.64 | 51.52 | 1:43.16 |
| 17 | Follador / Rolli | SUI | 6 | 5.30 | 5.28 | 51.73 | 51.53 | 1:43.26 |
| 18 | Variola / Batti | ITA | 18 | 5.26 | 5.20 | 51.78 | 51.55 | 1:43.33 |
| 19 | Austin / Evelyn | CAN | 25 | 5.26 | 5.30 | 51.71 | 51.70 | 1:43.41 |
| 20 | Vain / Prevost | MON | 15 | 5.30 | 51.79 | |||
| 21 | Norton / Bruggeling | CAN | 26 | 5.07 | 51.84 | |||
| 22 | Baird / Milward | GBR | 20 | 5.32 | 51.88 | |||
| 23 | Turea / Dobre | ROU | 21 | 5.29 | 51.96 | |||
| 24 | Behounek / Dobes | CZE | 23 | 5.33 | 51.97 | |||
| 25 | Brown / John | TTO | 28 | 5.42 | 52.27 | |||
| 26 | Nica / Calancea | ROU | 2 | 5.38 | 52.50 | |||
| 27 | Silic / Krajisnik | CRO | 27 | 5.54 | 52.93 | |||
| DNS | Treichl / Stepan | AUT | 8 | 5.16 | 51.17 | DNS |