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02/17 15:00 CST Johannes Lochner leads German 2-man Olympic bobsled sweep,
Frank Del Duca 4th for US
Johannes Lochner leads German 2-man Olympic bobsled sweep, Frank Del Duca 4th
for US
By TIM REYNOLDS
AP Sports Writer
CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) --- Counting the World Cup season and the Milan
Cortina Olympics, there were 24 medals up for grabs in two-man bobsledding this
winter.
Germany won 23 of them --- including the three shiniest ones.
For the second consecutive Olympics, it was a two-man bobsled sweep for the
most powerful nation in sliding. Johannes Lochner, in what he says will be the
next-to-last race of his international career, teamed with Georg Fleischhauer
to finish the four-run competition on Tuesday night in 3 minutes, 39.70 seconds
for his third career medal and first gold.
Lochner won by 1.34 seconds, the most lopsided margin in the Olympic two-man
race in 46 years.
Francesco Friedrich, the gold medalist in two- and four-man at each of the last
two Olympics, partnered with Alexander Schuller and was second in 3:41.04. Adam
Ammour finished off the sweep, teaming with Alexander Schaller to win bronze in
3:41.52.
For the U.S., opening ceremony flagbearer Frank Del Duca and Josh Williamson
were fourth in 3:41.96 --- matching the second-best effort by an American
two-man sled in 70 years. Steven Holcomb and Steven Langton won silver at the
2014 Sochi Games, and Todd Hays and Garrett Hines were fourth at the 2002 Salt
Lake City Olympics.
The Romanian team of Mihai Tentea and George Iordache were fifth, matching that
country's best two-man Olympic finish since 1972.
The first sweep of an Olympic bobsled race was at the 2022 Beijing Games when
Germany --- with Friedrich first, Lochner second and Christoph Hafer third ---
took all three medals. They did the same this time, which shouldn't be a
surprise given the way the season went.
Britain's Brad Hall got a bronze medal at the World Cup two-man race in St.
Moritz, Switzerland, last month. Otherwise, every gold, silver and bronze went
to the Germans this season.
And in this Olympic four-year cycle, Germany won 34 out of 35 two-man races at
the World Cup, world championship and Olympic levels --- taking 85 of a
possible 105 medals.
___
AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
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