From Lillehammer, NOR
(November 11, 2021) – The Czech Republic’s Adam Dobes edged out Switzerland’s Cedric Follador for his first ever IBSF international gold medal, winning a European Cup gold by .17 in Lillehammer
Dobes, with brakeman Dominik Zalesky, set the quick time of the race, opening up a .06 advantage over Germany’s Richard Oelsner, with Follador just .07 behind Oelsner.
On the second run Follador took the lead with just Oelsner and Dobes to go. Oelsner struggled to put down a clean run and dropped out of the medals, leaving the door open for the Czech pilot. Dobes matched his first run with a heat-quickest second run to beat out the field for his first gold (or medal of any kind). Follador took silver, while Follador’s Swiss teammate Michael Kuonen finished third.
Dobes’ best finish of any kind previously was fifth place in a four-man sled piloted by Dominik Dvorak in Winterberg, 2018.
Latvia’s Emils Cipulis jumped up from sixth to fourth in the second heat, while Oelsner fell to fifth. Latvia’s Davis Kaufmanis rounded out the top six, just .02 behind Oelsner.
Great Britain’s John Stanbridge moved up a spot in the second heat to finish 12th, and Liechtenstein’s Martin Kranz finished 16th.
Results
| Pos | Names | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Finish |
| 1 | Dobes / Zalesky | CZE | 2 | 5.01 | 4.90 | 52.02 | 52.44 | 1:44.46 |
| 2 | Follador / Mariani | SUI | 6 | 5.09 | 5.10 | 52.15 | 52.48 | 1:44.63 |
| 3 | Kuonen / Tanner | SUI | 11 | 5.07 | 5.11 | 52.20 | 52.52 | 1:44.72 |
| 4 | Cipulis / Kleinbergs | LAT | 8 | 5.00 | 4.98 | 52.24 | 52.53 | 1:44.77 |
| 5 | Oelsner / Bosse | GER | 10 | 5.12 | 5.11 | 52.08 | 52.75 | 1:44.83 |
| 6 | Kaufmanis / Nemme | LAT | 7 | 5.00 | 5.01 | 52.36 | 52.49 | 1:44.85 |
| 7 | Rinaldi / Vain | MON | 4 | 5.07 | 5.06 | 52.16 | 52.81 | 1:44.97 |
| 8 | Stulnev / Antukh | RUS | 12 | 5.14 | 5.14 | 52.41 | 52.59 | 1:45.00 |
| 9 | Rohner / Giumma | SUI | 9 | 5.13 | 5.12 | 52.35 | 52.69 | 1:45.04 |
| 10 | Baird / Gartagena | GBR | 3 | 5.21 | 5.19 | 52.41 | 52.78 | 1:45.19 |
| 11 | Moulinier / Jullard | SUI | 5 | 5.13 | 5.14 | 52.42 | 52.94 | 1:45.36 |
| 12 | Stanbridge / Hudson | GBR | 21 | 5.30 | 5.29 | 52.87 | 53.09 | 1:45.96 |
| 13 | Novakovic / Borkovic | SRB | 20 | 5.16 | 5.18 | 52.98 | 53.13 | 1:46.11 |
| 14 | Shinohara / Kaneko | JPN | 13 | 5.16 | 5.17 | 52.90 | 53.31 | 1:46.21 |
| 15 | Baechler / Alais | FRA | 19 | 5.24 | 5.23 | 52.99 | 53.31 | 1:46.30 |
| 16 | Kranz / Lenherr | LIE | 15 | 5.38 | 5.42 | 53.25 | 53.63 | 1:46.88 |
| 17 | Sobczyk / Sienkiewicz | POL | 18 | 5.17 | 5.21 | 53.34 | 53.65 | 1:46.99 |
| 18 | Behounek / Lecjaks | CZE | 16 | 5.25 | 5.21 | 53.53 | 53.57 | 1:47.10 |
| 19 | den Ouden / van Kuppeveld | NED | 22 | 5.23 | 5.26 | 53.52 | 53.62 | 1:47.14 |
| 20 | Nica / Calancea | ROU | 17 | 5.23 | 53.65 | |||
| 21 | Boron / Jastrzebski | POL | 23 | 5.24 | 53.88 | |||
| 22 | Blokzijl / Gazmuri-Olivares | NOR | 14 | 5.48 | 55.45 | |||
| DSQ | Taborsky / Noskovic | SVK | 1 | 5.19 | 5.25 | 52.84 | DSQ |
