BOBSLED & SKELETON: Friedrich dominates again with two wins in Innsbruck

Germany's Francesco Friedrich piloting the two-man bob (Sandro Halank via Wikipedia)

Germany’s Francesco Friedrich piloted the winning two-man and four-man bobs in PyeongChang last year and looks ready to defend those title at the World Championships in March. His sleds won both events at the Innsbruck World Cup, extending an astonishing streak.

Friedrich – with a variety of brakemen – has now won six straight World Cup events, including all five this season, in the two-man and finished ahead of teammate Johannes Lochner by just 0.15 seconds in Innsbruck. In winning the four-man as well, it’s the third time this season that he’s he won both at a World Cup stop!

And, he keeps Germany a perfect 10-for-10 in men’s World Cup races this season.

Actually, we can make that 15-for-15 if we include the women’s races, as Stephanie Schneider won her second race of the season, with three-time winner Mariama Jamanka second. American Elana Meyers Taylor, with Sylvia Hoffmann this time, was third for her fourth straight race with a medal this season.

In Skeleton, eight-time World Cup champion Martin Dukurs (LAT) won his first race of the season and repeated his win on the Innsbruck track from 2018, and his ninth straight win there. Austria’s Janine Flock, fourth in PyeongChang, won her first race of the season. Summaries:

IBSF World Cup
Innsbruck (AUT) ~ 18-20 January 2019
(Full results here)

Men’s 2: 1. Francesco Friedrich/Thorsten Margis (GER), 1:42.85; 2. Johannes Lochner/Florian Bauer (GER), 1:43.00; 3. Oskars Kibermanis/Matiss Miknis (LAT), 1:43.19; 4. Justin Kripps/Cameron Stones (CAN), 1:43.30; 5. Dominik Dvorak/Jakub Nosek (CZE), 1:43.35. Also: 17. Justin Olsen/Joshua Williamson (USA), 1:44.11, and Codie Bscue/Hakeem Abdul-Saboor (USA), 1:44.11.

Men’s 4: 1. Germany (Francesco Friedrich), 1:41.17; 2. Latvia (Oskars Kibermanis), 1:41.36; 3. Germany (Johannes Lochner), 1:41.61; 4. Russia (Maxim Andrianov), 1:41.75; 5. Czech Rep. (Dominik Dvorak), 1:41.85. Also: 13. United States (Codie Bascue), 1:42.36.

Women’s 2: 1. Stephanie Schneider/Ann-Christin Strack (GER), 1:46.06; 2. Mariama Jamanka/Kira Lipperheide (GER), 1:46.17; 3. Elana Meyers Taylor/Sylvia Hoffmann (USA), 1:46.23; 4. Anna Koehler/Leonie Fiebig (GER), 1:46.41; 5. Nadezhda Sergeeva/Yulia Egoshenko (RUS), 1:46.72. Also: 7. Brittany Reinbolt/Jessica Davis (USA), 1:46.86

Men’s Skeleton: 1. Martins Dukurs (LAT), 1:46.17; 2. Sung-Bin Yun (KOR), 1:46.45; 3. Axel Jungk (GER), 1:46.46; 4. Alexander Tretiakov (RUS), 1:46.54; 5. Tomass Dukurs (LAT), 1:46.69. Also: 14. Kyle Brown (USA), 1:47.82; … 17. Greg West (USA), 1:47.99.

Women’s Skeleton: 1. Janine Flock (AUT), 1:48.64; 2. Elena Nikitina (RUS), 1:49.07; 3. Jacqueline Loelling (GER), 1:49.09; 4. Tina Hermann (GER), 1:49.45; 5. Laura Deas (GBR), 1:49.48. Also: 12. Kendall Wesenberg (USA), 1:49.81; … 16. Savannah Graybill (USA), 1:50.18.