Winter sports - Francesco Friedrich makes it twelve in a row with Altenberg bobsleigh triumph
BySportsbeat
Updated 04/12/2021 at 17:53 GMT
Francesco Friedrich continued his incredible two-man bobsleigh winning streak with a come-from-behind victory in the latest World Cup event. The German has now won all three two-man Bobsleigh World Cup races this season to go with the final seven last term, the 2021 World Championship and the test event in Beijing ahead of next year’s Olympic Winter Games.
Francesco Friedrich
Image credit: Getty Images
Francesco Friedrich produced a scintillating second run to continue his dominance of the two-man bobsleigh scene and extend his winning streak to a remarkable 12 races.
The German has now won all three two-man Bobsleigh World Cup races this season to go with the final seven last term, the 2021 World Championship and the test event in Beijing ahead of next year's Olympic Winter Games.
However, he was made to work hard on home ice in Altenberg as he and brakeman Alexander Schüller sat third following the first run before pulling it out of the bag on their second time down the ice.
Friedrich's first run featured a number of uncharacteristic mistakes and his time of 55.06s trailed both compatriot Johannes Lochner (by 0.16s) and rising Russian star Rostislav Gaitiukevich (by 0.11s).
But if his first run was scrappy, his second was sublime as a blistering start of just 5.11s helped him clock 54.90s for a total time of 1:49.96 that gave neither of his two rivals any room for error.
Gaitiukevich, alongside brakeman Mikhail Mordasov, was first to try and knock him off his perch but his showing of 55.28s left him 0.27s behind.
Lochner, accompanied by Christopher Weber, was the only man who could deny his fellow German but a couple of small errors put paid to his chances as he ended up 0.24s back and had to settle for silver, with Gaitiukevich in bronze.
Brad Hall and Greg Cackett finished outside the top five for the first time this season as they came home in 11th, while fellow Brit Lamin Deen and his brakeman Toby Olubi ended 20th.
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