From Igls, AUT
(January 6, 2022) – Richard Oelsner and brakeman Georg Fleischhauer edged out Monaco’s Rudy Rinaldi and Boris Vain over two runs in Igls to win gold in the penultimate race of the 2021/2022 European Cup two-man bobsled season.
The German duo were out-pushed by the Monegasque sliders off the top, but Oelsner was able to edge out Rinaldi by .02 after one heat. On the second run, Rinaldi and Vain set the quick start time of the race and took the lead with only the Germans to go. Oelsner and Fleischhauer were again out-started but once again Oelsner was able to drive them just ahead of Rinaldi, this time by .01 to give them a .03 second win over the team from Monaco.
The gold for Oelsner was his third straight and fifth overall on the European Cup two-man bobsled season.
For Rinaldi, the silver was a two-man bobsled career-best in European Cup action and came in his first start at any level since the World Cup stop in Igls in November 2021.
Italians Mattia Variola and brakeman Robert Mircea finished in third, a career best for both sliders.
Codie Bascue and Boone Niederhofer finished fourth, only .09 out of the medals. It was the first European Cup start for the American pilot since January 18, 2014 in St. Moritz.
Germany’s teams of Jonas Jannusch and Benedikt Hertel and Max Illmann and Felix Dahms tied for fifth.
For the first time in a long time, the United States put three sleds in the field in a European Cup event. Behind Bascue in fourth, Tyler Hickey and Mateo Mitchell finished 14th, while Geoff Gadbois and Bryce Cheek tied for 15th with Laurin Zern and Erik Leypold of Germany.
Great Britain rounded out the top 20, with Adam Baird and Alexander Cartagena in 19th and JOhn Stanbridge and Michael Measter in 20th.
Liechtenstein’s Martin Kranz and Ozan Bektas finished 34th in the 38 sled field.
Results:
| Pos | Names | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Finish |
| 1 | Oelsner / Fleischhauer | GER | 7 | 5.23 | 5.22 | 52.12 | 52.33 | 1:44.45 |
| 2 | Rinaldi / Vain | MON | 15 | 5.19 | 5.16 | 52.14 | 52.34 | 1:44.48 |
| 3 | Variola / Mircea | ITA | 30 | 5.17 | 5.18 | 52.28 | 52.38 | 1:44.66 |
| 4 | Bascue / Niederhofer | USA | 10 | 5.24 | 5.26 | 52.29 | 52.46 | 1:44.75 |
| 5 | Jannusch / Hertel | GER | 16 | 5.24 | 5.22 | 52.38 | 52.54 | 1:44.92 |
| 5 | Illmann / Dahms | GEr | 18 | 5.28 | 5.25 | 52.46 | 52.46 | 1:44.92 |
| 7 | Stulnev / Zharovtsev | RUS | 11 | 5.30 | 5.37 | 52.34 | 52.69 | 1:45.03 |
| 8 | Cipulis / Nemme | LAT | 12 | 5.21 | 5.20 | 52.45 | 52.59 | 1:45.04 |
| 9 | Follador / Mariani | SUI | 9 | 5.29 | 5.33 | 52.38 | 52.68 | 1:45.06 |
| 10 | Rohner / Hersperger | SUI | 24 | 5.28 | 5.30 | 52.46 | 52.69 | 1:45.15 |
| 11 | Baumgartner / Verginer | ITA | 8 | 5.38 | 5.42 | 52.63 | 52.68 | 1:45.31 |
| 12 | Kuonen / Dorig | SUI | 4 | 5.22 | 5.28 | 52.45 | 52.97 | 1:45.42 |
| 13 | A. Dobes / M. Dobes | CZE | 14 | 5.29 | 5.28 | 52.74 | 52.80 | 1:45.54 |
| 14 | Hickey / Mitchell | USA | 5 | 5.36 | 5.43 | 52.65 | 52.94 | 1:45.59 |
| 15 | Gadbois / Cheek | USA | 6 | 5.31 | 5.39 | 52.72 | 52.95 | 1:45.67 |
| 15 | Zern / Lypold | GER | 32 | 5.36 | 5.35 | 52.88 | 52.79 | 1:45.67 |
| 17 | Stephens / Wekpe | JAM | 13 | 5.35 | 5.39 | 52.76 | 53.04 | 1:45.80 |
| 17 | Shinohara / Murakami | JPN | 23 | 5.35 | 5.37 | 52.87 | 52.93 | 1:45.80 |
| 19 | Baird / Cartagena | GBR | 28 | 5.42 | 5.39 | 52.88 | 52.93 | 1:45.81 |
| 20 | Stanbridge / Measter | GBR | 2 | 5.46 | 5.54 | 52.91 | 53.38 | 1:46.29 |
| 21 | Popov / Kislitsa | RUS | 22 | 5.37 | 52.97 | |||
| 22 | Novakovic / Radosavljevic | SRB | 21 | 5.29 | 52.97 | |||
| 23 | Kalenda / Bebriss | LAT | 31 | 5.31 | 52.99 | |||
| 24 | Moulinier / Juillard | SUI | 17 | 5.35 | 53.00 | |||
| 25 | Bankov / Chaban | RUS | 25 | 5.31 | 53.01 | |||
| 26 | Dubinko / Abramov | RUS | 1 | 5.42 | 53.04 | |||
| 27 | Boron / Sienkiewicz | POL | 35 | 5.28 | 53.08 | |||
| 28 | Baechler / Alais | FRA | 27 | 5.41 | 53.11 | |||
| 29 | Behounek / Hrazdil | CZE | 29 | 5.31 | 53.16 | |||
| 30 | Ghilardini / Ughi | ITA | 36 | 5.41 | 53.11 | |||
| 31 | Mandlbauer / Nichols-Bardi | AUT | 40 | 5.35 | 53.36 | |||
| 32 | Kaiser / Volgger | AUT | 34 | 5.41 | 53.43 | |||
| 33 | Sobczyk / Jastrzebski | POL | 33 | 5.31 | 53.47 | |||
| 34 | Kranz / Bektas | LIE | 20 | 5.52 | 53.55 | |||
| 35 | Besnard / Boutherin | FRA | 37 | 5.48 | 53.65 | |||
| 36 | Nica / Calancea | ROU | 26 | 5.58 | 53.69 | |||
| 37 | Ohanlon / Williamson | AUS | 19 | 5.61 | 54.36 | |||
| 38 | T. Nimac / N. Nimac | CRO | 39 | 7.27 | 58.50 | |||
| DNS | Brown / Hames | TTO | 38 | DNS | ||||
| DNS | Den Ouden / de Jong | NED | 3 | DNS |
