2012/2013 FIBT World Cup - Round 9 - Four-Man Bobsled

From Sochi, Russia

Thomas Florschuetz will go into the second heat in the four-man competition as the leader, .07 ahead of home-ice slider Alexander Zubkov. Zuvkov is looking to take home the first gold for a Russian on the new Sochi track. Oskars Melbardis and his Latvian crew set the new start record and is third, .14 out. Russian Alexander Kasjanov and new World Champion Franceso Friedrich are fourth and fifth, respectively. Great Britain pilot John Jackson is sixth, and has an outside shot at a medal, building on a momentum from a solid run in St. Moritz in Worlds.

The American men haven’t been able to duplicate their female counterparts’ success this week. Steven Holcomb is the top-ranked American in 11th, while Nick Cunningham is 15th and Cory Butner 24th. Similar problems for the Canadians as Chris Spring leads the way back in 12th, teammate Lyndon Rush sits in 18th and Justin Kripps 20th. Lamin Deen misses out on a second heat in the second Great Britain sled, finishing 25th.

Results after Heat 1:

Pos	Pilot	Nation	Draw	Run 1
1	Thomas Florschuetz	GER	1	56.01
2	Alexander Zubkov	RUS	9	56.08
3	Oskars Melbardis	LAT	3	56.15
4	Alexander Kasjanov	RUS	5	56.24
5	Francesco Friedrich	GER	19	56.29
6	John Jackson	GBR	8	56.31
7	Dmitry Abramovitch	RUS	11	56.38
8	Beat Hefti	SUI	10	56.40
9	Manuel Machata	GER	2	56.43
10	Oskars Kibermanis	LAT	17	56.50
11	Steven Holcomb	USA	7	56.54
12	Chris Spring	CAN	15	56.59
13	Juergen Loacker	AUT	14	56.61
14	Rico Peter	SUI	6	56.62
15	Nick Cunningham	USA	13	56.66
16	Edwin Van Calker	NED	20	56.70
17	Simone Bertazzo	ITA	18	56.72
18	Lyndon Rush	Can	4	56.74
19	Jan Vrba	CZE	12	56.80
20	Justin Kripps	CAN	16	56.93
21	Milan Jagnesak	SVK	21	57.09
22	Dawid Kupczyk	POL	22	57.11
22	Nicolae Istrate	ROU	26	57.11
24	Cory Butner	USA	24	57.23
25	Lamin Deen	GBR	23	57.32
26	Patrice Servelle	MON	25	57.60