“We still have two years…”
Unbeatable bobsleigh giant Friedrich jokes and threatens
March 3, 2024, 10:02 p.m
Francesco Friedrich is one of the greatest winter athletes of his generation: As expected and superior, the German bobsleigh pilot won two gold medals at the Bobsleigh World Championships. The competition is amazed, the dominator jokes. But competition is emerging within their own camp.
Dominator Francesco Friedrich held up his helmet in celebration, then the old and new world champion was celebrated by the German fans in Winterberg. The superlative bobsleigh pilot raced to his 16th World Championship triumph in Sauerland, and for the fifth time it was the title double pack of two and four for him. Even the German competition could only be amazed.
After the triumph, perfectionist Friedrich immediately looked for a fly in the ointment. “We also set our sights on the starting record, but unfortunately we missed it by two hundredths,” he said with a grin and immediately sent the next challenge to the competition: “We still have two years to get it. We’ll still do that.”
“We are incredibly proud”
In spring-like temperatures, Friedrich kept a cool head and steered his sled with pushers Thorsten Margis, Alexander Schüller and Felix Straub to the finish twice without making any mistakes on Sunday. “We are incredibly proud that we mastered it so confidently,” said the new and old world champion. There was applause from long-time competitor Johannes Lochner, who acknowledged that Friedrich in top form is hard to beat.
In keeping with his status, record world champion Friedrich set the course for title number 16 with a track record at the start of the second day of racing and finished the race confidently. Lochner, like two-man European champion Adam Ammour, had no chance. Friedrich followed his demonstration of power in the two-man race, which had been in Lochner’s hands during the World Cup season, with another in his 100th four-man race.
New competition is emerging
The pilot has dominated the supreme discipline for over half a decade now. Since 2017, all five world titles have gone to Friedrich, who, with his sixth triumph, is now the sole record world champion in the four-man sled.
Behind the two exceptional talents, Ammour fought an exciting battle for the bronze medal with Emils Cipulis from Latvia. The 22-year-old from Oberhof was ahead by four hundredths of a second before the decisive round and secured the next German triple victory with a flawless run. It was the third in the four disciplines at the title fights in Winterberg.
Ammour is already convincing in his first World Cup season and is preparing to at least challenge the long-standing dominance of Bob King Friedrich. There is still a long way to go until then, but the foundation has been laid. Shooting star Ammour still has two years until the Olympic Games. Dominator Friedrich, who won double gold in both 2018 and 2022, will not give up his supremacy without a fight.