From Igls, AUT
(January 19, 2025) – After the 2024/2025 season is over, the sliding track in Igls will be renovated, with some new curves begin added in the bottom. So it was only fitting that the pilot who’d won on it the most in four-man bobsled took the final World Cup gold medal there in its final race before the renovation.
Francesco Friedrich, the track record holder (Feb. 12, 2023) and eight-time winner on the track, slid to the lead after the first heat by just .02 over Johannes Lochner, while Great Britain’s Brad Hall did his best to stop a German sweep of the podium in third, just ahead of Germany’s Adam Ammour in fourth.
In the second heat, Ammour’s team gave him a 5.02 start, the second quickest of the heat, which was enough to put the pressure on the Brits ahead of him.
But Hall and his team answered. Their start nearly matched Ammours, and Hall’s second slide was a hundredth of a second quicker than his first. THat was enough to not just take the lead, but to hold it as Lochner couldn’t quite find the speed he needed in his second run and slid to second place with only Friedrich to go.
Friedrich came into the race with eight straight four-man bobsled World Cup victories in Austria. Over that time, he’d been quickest in each of the 16 heats he’d raced. So it was no surprise that despite a bumpier than normal slide Friedrich once again set the quick time of the heat on his way to a .28 second victory over hall, with Lochner in third.
The win was the 35th World Cup victory for Friedrich in the four-seater. Of those wins, over a quarter have come in Igls.
Hall’s silver was his third straight medal after starting the season in fifth place in Altenberg. Lochner’s bronze was his third this season.
Ammour was fourth. Patrick Baumgartner had a quick second run to move up from seventh to fifth, while Pat Norton’s team gave him a pair of top ten starts on their way to Norton’s best World Cup finish in sixth.
Frank Del Duca finished tenth on the strength of he and his team’s pair of top six starts. Adam Baird was 18th for Great Britain, while Taylor Austin missed out on the second heat in 21st.
Heading into the double four-man weekend in St. Moritz, Friedrich continues to lead the World Cup standings, ahead of Hall and Lochner. Ammour and Baumgartner round out the top five.
Results:
| Pos | Names | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
| 1 | Friedrich / Sommer / Schüller / Straub | GER | 11 | 4.98 | 4.96 | 50.21 | 50.24 | 1:40.45 |
| 2 | Hall / Lawrence / Greenwood / Gulliver | GBR | 13 | 5.07 | 5.05 | 50.37 | 50.36 | 1:40.73 |
| 3 | Lochner / Fleishhauer / Tasche / Bauer | GER | 6 | 5.02 | 5.03 | 50.23 | 50.51 | 1:40.74 |
| 4 | Ammour / Stadelmann / Ammour / Schenk | GER | 9 | 5.07 | 5.02 | 50.41 | 50.42 | 1:40.83 |
| 5 | Baumgartner / Fantazzini / Mircea / Bilotti | ITA | 4 | 5.13 | 5.07 | 50.69 | 50.56 | 1:41.25 |
| 6 | Norton / Evelyn / Bruggeling / Murray-Lawrence | CAN | 22 | 5.10 | 5.09 | 50.67 | 50.63 | 1:41.30 |
| 7 | Vogt / Schläpfer / Haas / Ndiaye | SUI | 8 | 5.15 | 5.16 | 50.70 | 50.77 | 1:41.47 |
| 8 | Kalenda / Kaufmanis / Miknis / Klava | LAT | 5 | 5.11 | 5.08 | 50.65 | 50.82 | 1:41.47 |
| 9 | Kim / Chun / Kim / Lee | KOR | 21 | 5.09 | 5.10 | 50.71 | 50.80 | 1:41.51 |
| 10 | Del Duca / Vissering / Gilbert / Volker | USA | 15 | 5.09 | 5.08 | 50.70 | 50.84 | 1:41.54 |
| 11 | Follador / Mariani / Rolli / Vögele | SUI | 12 | 5.15 | 5.12 | 50.83 | 50.76 | 1:41.59 |
| 11 | Li / Jiang / Shi / Zhen | CHN | 17 | 5.13 | 5.13 | 50.78 | 50.81 | 1:41.59 |
| 13 | Sun / Ding / Ye / An | CHN | 20 | 5.09 | 5.13 | 50.82 | 50.84 | 1:41.66 |
| 14 | Behounek / Dobes / Wijas / Rapp | CZE | 18 | 5.18 | 5.20 | 50.98 | 50.75 | 1:41.73 |
| 14 | Tentea / Dinescu / Pacioianu / Iordache | ROU | 14 | 5.15 | 5.16 | 50.84 | 50.89 | 1:41.73 |
| 16 | Rohner / Manganas / Annen / Hersperger | SUI | 10 | 5.23 | 5.21 | 50.82 | 50.92 | 1:41.74 |
| 17 | Mandlbauer / Handschitz / Zech / Bertschler | AUT | 16 | 5.14 | 5.13 | 50.90 | 50.87 | 1:41.77 |
| 18 | Baird / Williams / Butterworth / Cartagena | GBR | 1 | 5.16 | 5.18 | 50.82 | 50.97 | 1:41.79 |
| 19 | Vain / Ferri / Prevost / Borges | MON | 3 | 5.20 | 5.18 | 50.95 | 51.04 | 1:41.99 |
| 20 | Variola / Batti / Ragazzi / Artuso | ITA | 23 | 5.17 | 5.19 | 51.18 | 51.19 | 1:42.37 |
| 21 | Austin / Eskrick-Parkinson – Zanette / Ashley | CAN | 19 | 5.29 | 51.28 | |||
| 22 | Wesslink / Huis in ‘t Veld / Pals / Franjic | NED | 24 | 5.34 | 51.38 | |||
| 23 | Verginer / Pagnini / Obou / Lambrughi | ITA | 25 | 5.09 | 51.39 | |||
| 24 | Brown / Williams / John / John | TTO | 2 | 5.33 | 51.50 | |||
| 25 | Turea / Bucur / Dobre / Dinca | ROU | 26 | 5.43 | 51.96 | |||
| DNS | Treichl / Stepan / Mitterer / Huber | AUT | 7 | DNS |