From Igls, AUT
(November 27, 2021) – Francesco Friedrich won yet another gold in Igls, once again beating out teammate Johannes Lochner for top honors.
Friedrich and brakeman Thorsten Margis had the quickest start time of the second heat and the quickest time in both heats on their way to a .36 second victory over teammate Johannes Lochner.
The gold was Friedrich’s sixth straight in Igls two-man competition. He’s finished out of the medals in Austria exactly once (January, 2014).
For Lochner, he and Christian Rasp struggled to match their first run start time, and while they were able to finish ahead of Justin Kripps, those troubles all but sealed their silver medal.
Canada’s Justin Kripps and Cam Stones finished with a bronze medal. It was Kripps’s ninth bronze and 18th overall in two-man bobsled competition.
Rostislav Gaitiukevich finished fourth, ahead of Brad Hall and Christoph Hafer, who rounded out the top six. Gaitiukevich and brakeman Mikhail Mordasov set the fast start in the first heat with a 5.07, while Hafer jumped up from ninth to sixth.
The United States’ Codie Bascue came into the second heat in sixth place, but had trouble on the load of that second run. Bascue had a good drive but lacked the speed to contend, and he and Carlo Valdes finished tenth.
Bascue’s American teammate Hunter Church continues to work back from a broken foot that needed to be surgically repaired just before the IBSF training event in Yanqing. With Hakeem Abdul-Saboor on the brakes, he finished 20th with a slower push due to that injury.
Canada’s Christopher Spring put down two solid runs in the snow and finished 14th, while Lamin Deen finished 26th.
French pilot Romain Heinrich was the big mover of the race, moving from 18th on the first run to 12th in the second.
Results:
| Pos | Names | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
| 1 | Friedrich / Margis | GER | 9 | 5.08 | 5.09 | 51.57 | 51.91 | 1:43.48 |
| 2 | Lochner / Rasp | GER | 4 | 5.14 | 5.21 | 51.72 | 52.12 | 1:43.84 |
| 3 | Kripps / Stones | CAN | 8 | 5.11 | 5.12 | 51.84 | 52.12 | 1:43.96 |
| 4 | Gaitiukevich / Mordasov | RUS | 10 | 5.07 | 5.12 | 51.92 | 52.18 | 1:44.10 |
| 5 | Hall / Gleeson | GBR | 12 | 5.12 | 5.18 | 51.96 | 52.26 | 1:44.22 |
| 6 | Hafer / Sommer | GER | 18 | 5.25 | 5.26 | 52.16 | 52.25 | 1:44.41 |
| 7 | Tentea / Daroczi | ROU | 6 | 5.20 | 5.21 | 52.12 | 52.35 | 1:44.47 |
| 8 | Vogt / Michel | SUI | 5 | 5.17 | 5.17 | 52.15 | 52.33 | 1:44.48 |
| 9 | Rinaldi / Vain | MON | 16 | 5.18 | 5.20 | 52.17 | 52.34 | 1:44.51 |
| 10 | Bascue / Valdes | USA | 7 | 5.17 | 5.18 | 52.11 | 52.43 | 1:44.54 |
| 11 | Treichl / Glück | AUT | 2 | 5.16 | 5.17 | 52.17 | 52.45 | 1:44.62 |
| 12 | Heinrich / Lefebvre | FRA | 21 | 5.23 | 5.19 | 52.42 | 52.30 | 1:44.72 |
| 13 | Kibermanis / Miknis | LAT | 15 | 5.15 | 5.14 | 52.31 | 52.42 | 1:44.73 |
| 14 | Spring / Giguere | CAN | 13 | 5.24 | 5.25 | 52.27 | 52.49 | 1:44.76 |
| 15 | Kaufmanis / Nemme | LAT | 22 | 5.17 | 5.17 | 52.44 | 52.34 | 1:44.78 |
| 15 | Maier / Huber | AUT | 14 | 5.19 | 5.21 | 52.29 | 52.49 | 1:44.78 |
| 17 | Dvorak / Nosek | CZE | 17 | 5.27 | 5.26 | 52.39 | 52.42 | 1:44.81 |
| 18 | Sun / Wu | CHN | 1 | 5.22 | 5.20 | 52.41 | 52.48 | 1:44.89 |
| 19 | Friedli / Haas | SUI | 11 | 5.16 | 5.15 | 52.36 | 52.53 | 1:44.89 |
| 20 | Church / Abdul-Saboor | USA | 24 | 5.23 | 5.25 | 52.57 | 52.61 | 1:45.18 |
| 21 | Won / Kim | KOR | 20 | 5.28 | 52.59 | |||
| 22 | de Bruin / Franjic | NED | 19 | 5.28 | 52.63 | |||
| 23 | Andrianov / Pushkarev | RUS | 23 | 5.28 | 52.69 | |||
| 24 | Variola / Fantazzini | ITA | 26 | 5.23 | 52.71 | |||
| 25 | Baumgartner / Mircea | ITA | 27 | 5.29 | 52.74 | |||
| 26 | Deen / Olubi | GBR | 3 | 5.23 | 52.84 | |||
| 27 | Shao / Ding | CHN | 28 | 5.27 | 52.98 | |||
| 28 | Shinohara / Murakami | JPN | 25 | 5.37 | 53.14 |
