Friedrich wins 16th bobsleigh world title, taking 4-man in Lake Placid
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 Saturday at Mount Van Hoevenberg in Lake Placid, N.Y., on the final day of the international bobsleigh 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 cancelled on Friday because of worsening track conditions as the air temperature rose — over two days in two minutes 44.52 seconds.
WATCH l Friedrich captures 7th career 4-man world title:
Germany's Francesco Friedrich wins 7th career 4-man bobsleigh world title
5 hours ago
Duration 2:39
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.
Calgary's Taylor Austin piloted the top Canadian sled to an eighth-place finish, clocking a total time of 2:46.64 alongside Ottawa's Mike Evelyn O'Higgins, CFL player Keaton Bruggeling of St. Catharines, Ont., and former CFLer Shaq Murray-Lawrence of Scarborough, Ont.
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.
IBSF Bobsled And Skeleton World Championships: 4-man bobsleigh heat 4
9 hours ago
Duration 51:38
Watch the deciding heat of the men's 4-man bobsleigh at the IBSF Bobsled And Skeleton World Championships from Lake Placid, New York.
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