Francesco Friedrich achieved his 85th career victory in World Cup bobsledding on Sunday in St. Moritz, Switzerland, after a commanding performance in the second heat of a four-man competition. Friedrich, along with teammates Matthias Sommer, Alexander Schuller, and Felix Straub, entered the second heat locked in an intense contest, with four sleds all within just 0.01 seconds of one another following the first heat. However, Friedrich’s team clinched the win by posting the fastest time in the second heat, finishing approximately a quarter of a second ahead of their closest opponents.
The sled piloted by Johannes Lochner from Germany secured the second position, while Great Britain’s Brad Hall guided his sled to a third-place finish. The U.S. team, driven by Frank del Duca, managed to finish in 16th place.
In the earlier two-woman bobsled event, Germany had a dominant display, sweeping all the medals. Kim Kalicki and Leonie Fiebig took home the gold, while the silver was claimed by Laura Nolte and Deborah Levi, and the bronze went to Lisa Buckwitz and Neele Schuten. The top-performing U.S. duo was Elana Meyers Taylor, who was partnered with Sadie McMullen; they finished in fourth place, just over a second behind the leaders.
In Altenberg, Germany, Austria’s Madeleine Egle continued to shine in women’s singles luge, earning her third victory of the World Cup season from just five races. Egle surpassed her compatriot Lisa Schulte in the overall standings by taking first place. Following her were Germany’s Anna Berreiter in second and Merle Fraebel in third. With her recent success, Egle now boasts a total of 359 points in the season standings, edging four points ahead of Schulte.
Ashley Farquharson emerged as the top U.S. finisher in the women’s singles event, securing sixth place. In addition to individual performances, the U.S. team achieved a bronze medal in the team relay event that day. The Latvian team, featuring singles sliders Kendija Aparjode and Kristers Aparjods, along with the doubles duo of Martins Bots and Roberts Plume, and another pair of Marta Robezniece and Kitija Bogdanova, clinched the gold medal. Germany’s squad, which included singles sliders Anna Berreiter and Max Langenhan along with Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt in doubles, took the silver.
Looking ahead, the bobsled schedule features the World Cup events for monobob and two-man competitions on Saturday at Igls, Austria. Meanwhile, luge events will take place with men’s doubles, women’s doubles, and women’s singles scheduled for Saturday at Winterberg, Germany. The skeleton World Cup season finale for men, women, and mixed teams is set to occur on February 7 at Lillehammer, Norway.
