From the point of view of the German bobsledders, tobogganists and skeleton pilots, the Winter Games in China are historic. At the end, flag bearer Francesco Friedrich shines in the pinnacle of bobsleigh.
Bob Emperor Francesco Friedrich enjoyed the glare of the sun on the Yanqing ice track and personally hung the gold medals around the necks of his pushers.
With his double Olympic double, the 31-year-old secured his place in the history books, something no pilot had ever managed to do before. After winning the two, the Saxon raced to gold in the big sled, as he did four years ago – and is on a par with the icon André Lange in terms of Olympic victories.
Francesco Friedrich enthusiastic about his team
“It was very difficult. The others were at the top level, we had to do everything we could to do it. The guys were great. If it hadn’t been for that, we wouldn’t have been able to do it,” said Friedrich on ARD. The team headed straight to Beijing, where brakeman Thorsten Margis carried the German flag at the closing ceremony. “That’s representative of all the pushers who always fall off the back a bit. It’s the icing on the cake, I’ll enjoy it for everyone,” said Margis.
In the German double success, Friedrich relegated Johannes Lochner, who was 0.37 seconds slower overall, to second place. Christoph Hafer from BC Bad Feilnbach finished fourth behind Canadian Justin Kripps. For the German bobsleigh and luge association, it was the 16th medal at the Chinese Winter Games. “I’ve experienced a lot, but not such a balance sheet, you can’t believe it,” said CEO Thomas Schwab.
Praise from bobsled legend Lange
André Lange bowed to his successor in distant Germany. “Franz has simply dominated everything for the last four years. Congratulations to the Franz team,” said the Thuringian on ARD. In the four Olympic victories, Friedrich and Lange are now tied. Overall, however, Lange still has another silver medal from the Vancouver Games in 2010, making him the most successful pilot in Olympic history. This could trump Friedrich in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo in four years.
If Friedrich continues his dominance, Lochner, who is also driving at world class level, will probably only be second again. The Berchtesgadener admitted that himself. “I’m overjoyed with silver, we can’t blame ourselves,” said the 31-year-old. “Franz is just incredibly strong. He’s the dominator. I have a lot of respect for what he delivers. He’s simply unassailable for anyone in the world.”
Third run ensures a preliminary decision
After Friedrich only had a mini lead of 0.03 seconds over Lochner at half-time, the pilot from BSC Sachsen Oberbärenburg made a preliminary decision in the third run. Due to the significantly better start compared to Lochner, Friedrich came close to the track record of his internal competitor of 58.13 seconds and was ahead by 0.20 seconds before the final.
Friedrich set the best time again in the last run and extended his lead over Lochner to 0.37 seconds. Hafer missed his second bronze medal by just six hundredths of a second and thus the first German triple triumph in the big sled. In the two-man bobsleigh, German pilots took the first three places.
In the Olympic history of bobsledding, only Andreas Osterl (1952), Eugenio Monti (Italy/1968), Meinhard Nehmer (1976), Wolfgang Hoppe (1984), Lange (2006) and Friedrich 2018 in Pyeongchang have won both disciplines. Now the Saxon was the first to repeat this coup.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
