Germany Wins Gold Medal, Sweeps Podium for 2-Man Bobsled at Winter Olympics 2022

Germany's dominance of the sliding sports at the 2022 Beijing Olympics continued in medal-sweeping fashion Tuesday.

The two-man bobsled team of Francesco Friedrich and Thorsten Margis captured gold with a total time of 3:56.89. They were joined by countrymen Johannes Lochner and Florian Bauer (3:57.38 for silver) and Christoph Hafer and Matthias Sommer (3:58.58 for bronze) on the medal podium.

Whether Germany would sweep the podium was the biggest question heading into the final run with Friedrich's team and Lochner's team well ahead and Hafer holding a narrow advantage in the race for bronze over Switzerland's Michael Vogt and Sandro Michel.

Hafer held off the Swiss off, although the dominance of the top-two finishers was underscored by the fact that the 13th-place finisher was closer to bronze than Hafer was to gold.

That Friedrich piloted his way to that gold comes as no surprise. 

After all, he and Margis tied Justin Kripps and Alexander Kopacz in a stunning tie for gold during the 2018 Pyeongchang Games. He also won gold in the four-man event in 2018 and could do the same this year.

Friedrich paced the 2021-22 World Cup standings in the men's two-man, four-man and combined events and was Germany's flag-bearer at these Games.

His gold marks Germany's seventh triumph in the sliding sports in Beijing. The country already won the five luge events of men's and women's singles, men's and women's doubles, and the team event. It also won the men's and women's skeleton competitions.

Another country finally broke through when Kaillie Humphries and Elana Meyers Taylor of the United States won gold and silver in the women's monobob. Frank Del Duca was the pilot of the only American sled in the final run of the two-man event, but he was unable to build on the momentum created by the women with a 15th-place finish.

Attention now turns to Friedrich's attempt for gold in the four-man bobsled event as he looks to add to his already legendary resume.

If Tuesday was any indication, he will be adding gold.