From Winterberg, Germany
Normally having the first draw spot of a 2-man bobsled run means clean, fast track and a shot to win. For Manuel Machata, however, it meant a headwind and a painfully slow run. Coming into today as a favorite, Machata set a brutally slow time and watched as the overwhelming majority of the field beat it. Machata won’t take a second run.
Machata’s teammates in GER-1 set the fast time that everyone is chasing. Both USA sleds made the second heat, with the Napier/Olsen USA-2 sled being the final one to make it into run 2.
Results after heat 1:
| Pos | Names | Draw | Nation | Run 1 |
| 1 | Florschuetz/Kuske | 2 | GER-1 | 56.81 |
| 2 | Zubkov/Trunenkovv | 8 | RUS-1 | 57.00 |
| 3 | Hefti/Lamparter | 10 | SUI-1 | 57.06 |
| 4 | Rush/Lumsden | 9 | CAN-1 | 57.08 |
| 5 | van Calker/Jansma | 11 | NED-1 | 57.14 |
| 6 | Loacker/Adolf | 21 | AUT-1 | 57.16 |
| 7 | Holcomb/Tomasevicz | 6 | USA-1 | 57.17 |
| 8 | Maskalans/Dambis | 15 | LAT-2 | 57.23 |
| 9 | Bertazzo/Costa | 19 | ITA-1 | 57.28 |
| 10 | Arndt/Putze | 7 | GER-2 | 57.30 |
| 11 | Melbardis/Dreiskens | 3 | LAT-1 | 57.34 |
| 12 | Servelle/Brown | 4 | MON-1 | 57.38 |
| 13 | Spring/Plug | 5 | CAN-2 | 57.38 |
| 14 | Zarharov/Meleshkin | 18 | RUS-3 | 57.40 |
| 15 | Vrba/Stoklaska | 24 | CZE-1 | 57.49 |
| 16 | Jackson/Tasker | 16 | GBR-1 | 57.52 |
| 17 | Peter/Ruf | 20 | SUI-1 | 57.58 |
| 18 | Baumann/Baumann | 12 | SUI-2 | 57.61 |
| 19 | Istrate/Caracuin | 17 | ROU-1 | 57.66 |
| 20 | Napier/Olsen | 14 | USA-2 | 57.68 |
| 21 | Kasjanov/Belugin | 13 | RUS-2 | 57.69 |
| 22 | Zalims/Zirups | 22 | LAT-3 | 57.73 |
| 23 | Machata/Bredau | 1 | GER-3 | 57.78 |
| 24 | Godefroy/Jolivet | 25 | FRA-1 | 57.84 |
| 25 | Jagnesak/Mokras | 29 | SVK-1 | 58.06 |
| 26 | Radjenovic/Zlatnar | 27 | SRB-1 | 58.19 |
| 27 | Kupczyk/Mroz | 23 | POL-1 | 58.21 |
| 28 | Luty/Zalewski | 26 | POL-2 | 58.42 |
| 29 | Grigore/Stancu | 28 | ROU-2 | 58.45 |
