Germany's Friedrich wins bobsleigh gold, his 100th at the World Cup and world championship levels
Canada’s Pat Norton pilots 4-man crew to career-best 6th-place finish in Austria
Francesco Friedrich of Germany won another IBSF four-man bobsleigh race on Sunday in Igls, Austria, the 100th victory of his career in either World Cup or world championship competitions.
He now has driven to 35 victories in World Cup four-man races, along with 51 wins in World Cup two-man events, eight two-man world championships and six four-man world championships.
Not included in that total: four golds — two in two-man, two in four-man — in Olympic competition.
Friedrich's dominance is unmatched in bobsleigh history. He has medalled in 31 of his last 32 World Cup four-man races and 60 of his last 62 World Cup two-man races; he took silver in two-man at Igls on Saturday.
In his World Cup career, Friedrich has medalled in 142 of 197 races.
Brad Hall of Britain drove to the silver in the four-man race Sunday, and Johannes Lochner of Germany was third. Frank del Duca drove to a 10th-place finish for the U.S.
WATCH l IBSF World Cup Innsbruck: 4-man bobsleigh heat 2:
Canada's Pat Norton drove his four-man crew to sixth place for a career-best World Cup finish.
Norton, who worked his way up in the sport as a brakeman before getting into the pilot's seat in 2020, teamed up with a veteran crew from Ontario – Mke Evelyn O'Higgins (Ottawa) along with CFLers Keaton Bruggeling (Ottawa) and Shaq Murray-Lawrence (Scarborough, Ont.), to clock a two-run time of 1:41.30.
"It's exciting to have some breakthrough success in the big sled, but the work is not done yet. We're building momentum and we're going to keep pushing forward," said Norton, who also hails from the nation's capital.
In the two-woman race later Sunday, Germany swept the medals with Laura Nolte and Deborah Levi winning, Kim Kalicki and Leonie Fiebig taking second and Lisa Buckwitz and Neele Schuten finishing third.
Calgary-based firefighter Bianca Ribi teamed up with Toronto's Niamh Haughey to finish 15th as the top Canadian sled, clocking a time of 1:45.93 over the two runs.
WATCH l IBSF World Cup Innsbruck: 2-woman bobsleigh heat 2:
Double-gold for Austrian luger Mueller
At Winterberg, Germany, Sunday was a double-gold day for Jonas Mueller of Austria, who won a World Cup men's singles race and then was part of his nation's winning entry in the team relay.
Mueller held off Max Langenhan of Germany for the men's singles win, with Nico Gleirscher of Austria placing third. Jonny Gustafson was the top American finisher, placing 20th.
WATCH l FIL Luge World Cup Winterberg: Men's singles:
In the team relay, Austria's team of Mueller, women's singles slider Madeleine Egle, the men's doubles team of Juri Gatt and Riccardo Schoepf and the women's doubles team of Selina Egle and Lara Kipp took first. Germany was second and Italy was third.
The U.S. was fourth in the team relay, despite Emily Sweeney getting the fastest split among all women's singles racers in the field. It capped a strong weekend for Sweeney, who won a bronze in the singles race Saturday.
WATCH l FIL Luge World Cup Winterberg: Team relay:
Up next
Bobsleigh: World Cup women's monobob Friday at St. Moritz, Switzerland.
Luge: World Cup women's doubles, men's doubles and women's singles Saturday at Oberhof, Germany.
Skeleton: World Cup season finales for men's, women's and mixed team Feb. 7 at Lillehammer, Norway.
Watch live coverage of the World Cup sliding events on CBCSports.ca and CBC Gem. A live streaming schedule is available here.
With files from Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton
