Lochner gets first 4-man bobsled win of the season, Germany sweeps 2-woman World Cup medals
LILLEHAMMER, Norway — Johannes Lochner of Germany overtook Francesco Friedrich in the second heat Sunday and won a four-man World Cup bobsled race for the first time this season.
Friedrich finished second and extended his lead in the World Cup four-man standings to 61 points over Brad Hall of Britain, who placed third.
Frank del Duca had a 10th-place finish for the U.S.
In the two-woman race earlier Sunday, Germany swept the medals again and Laura Nolte moved a big step closer to what would be her third consecutive overall World Cup title.
Nolte and Leonie Kluwig won gold, Kim Kalicki and Leonie Fiebig won silver and Lisa Buckwitz and Kira Lipperheide took bronze.
The win — Nolte's fourth in six two-woman races this season — gave her a 75-point lead over Kalicki in the overall standings. That means Nolte needs only a ninth-place finish in next weekend's World Cup finale to clinch the title.
Germany has grabbed 17 of the 18 possible medals in two-woman races this season. The only exception was at Sigulda, Latvia, on Dec. 15, when Kaysha Love of the U.S. drove to a bronze.
Elana Meyers Taylor and Jasmine Jones were the top finishers for the U.S. on Sunday in two-woman, placing seventh.
USA Bobsled is planning to skip the final World Cup stop in Lillehammer next weekend, the team announced Sunday.
It is returning to Lake Placid, New York, a week early to train for the world championships in bobsled and skeleton that will be held there over the first two weeks of March.
Bobsled: World Cup women's monobob and two-man, Saturday in Lillehammer.
Skeleton: World championships for men and women, March 6-7 in Lake Placid.
Luge: World Cup men's doubles, women's doubles and men's singles, Saturday at Pyeongchang, South Korea.
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