Francesco Friedrich breaks track record to claim Lillehammer bobsleigh World Cup, Brad Hall takes podium spot
BySportsbeat
Published 28/01/2024 at 17:55 GMT
Francesco Friedrich and his four-man bobsleigh broke both the start and track record in Norway to defeat their compatriots Johannes Lochner. Alongside Thorsten Margis, Alexander Schuller and Felix Straub, the double Olympic Champion produced a first run of 49.74 seconds to break the record. Stream the winter sports season live on discovery+, the Eurosport app and at eurosport.com
Germany's Francesco Friedrich, Candy Bauer, Alexander Schuller and Felix Straub compete during the second run of the men four-man bobsleigh competition of the IBSF Bobsleig World Cup in Innsbruck on December 17, 2023
Image credit: Getty Images
Francesco Friedrich produced a track record in Lillehammer to win the Lillehammer four-man bobsleigh World Cup.
Alongside Thorsten Margis, Alexander Schuller and Felix Straub, the double Olympic champion produced a first run of 49.74 seconds to break the record.
In the second run, they then produced the fastest start ever seen in Norway of 4.87 seconds to beat their compatriots Johannes Lochner and his team by 0.22 seconds.
Brad Hall claimed his first podium finish of the season as he continued his return from injury, finishing 0.65 seconds behind Friedrich.
The win sees Friedrich move just 10 points behind Lochner, who is yet to finish below second this season, in the overall standings.
Kim Kalicki and Leonie Fiebig of Germany claimed a narrow victory in the two-woman bobsleigh in Lillehammer.
Just 0.75 seconds separated the top seven in Norway as Kalicki and Fiebig posted the fastest times in both runs.
The German duo held only a 0.04-second lead over the USA's Kaysha Love and Azaria Hill after the first run before the American pair slipped back to third in the final standings.
They were leapfrogged by Laura Nolte and Neele Schuten who finished 0.19 seconds behind their compatriots as Germany dominated the podium.
Lisa Buckwitz and Vanessa Mark missed the chance to make it a clean sweep for Germany as they dropped from third to fourth after a slow second run.
Nolte and Schuten's lead at the top of the overall standings has been cut to 47 points by Kalicki and Fiebig who overtook Buckwitz into second.
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Stream the winter sports season live on discovery+, the Eurosport app and at eurosport.com
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