Francesco Friedrich of Germany wins 16th world bobsled championship, taking 4-man in Lake Placid
LAKE PLACID, N.Y. (AP) — Francesco Friedrich won every championship he could in bobsledding this season.
The German great is now a world champion for the 16th time, capping off his seventh four-man world title on Saturday at Mount Van Hoevenberg on the final day of the international bobsled season.
This is the sixth time — all in the last seven seasons — that Friedrich has swept the World Cup season titles in both two- and four-man, plus swept those races at either the Olympics or the world championships that season.
Friedrich finished three runs — one of the scheduled four heats was canceled on Friday because of worsening track conditions as the air temperature rose — over two days in 2 minutes, 44.52 seconds.
Johannes Lochner of Germany was second in 2:44.80 and Brad Hall of Britain was third in 2:45.00. The top American sled was driven by Frank Del Duca, who finished fourth in 2:45.64, while Kris Horn of the U.S. drove to a seventh-place finish.
'The biggest thing was just having friends and family here,' Del Duca said after wrapping up worlds on his home Lake Placid track. 'Coming up the outrun and high-fiving them and hearing them cheer was really special. It was a great time.'
Friedrich capped another year when he was the best bobsledder in the world, winning medals in all 17 of his major international races (15 World Cups, plus the two-man and four-man events in Lake Placid). He won 10 golds, also best in the world this year, with six silvers and one bronze.
Lochner finished his year with 16 medals — six gold, seven silver and three bronze.
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