Francesco Friedrich adds to bobsled legend with another World Championships sweep
German Francesco Friedrich won a record-extending 16th men's bobsled world title, while Laura Nolte led a German medals sweep of the two-woman event to end the World Championships in Lake Placid, New York.
Friedrich drove to a seventh consecutive title in the four-man event, defeating rival countryman Johannes Lochner's sled by 28 hundredths combining times from three runs.
A British sled driven by Brad Hall took bronze, 64 hundredths ahead of American Frank Del Duca's sled.
Del Duca drove to fourth-place finishes in both the two- and four-man events in Lake Placid. The U.S. last won a world medal in a men's bobsled event in 2013.
Worlds are usually four runs, but one of Friday's first two runs was canceled after it was held because a section of a curve was missing ice, causing Lochner's sled to run over concrete. Lochner was initially granted a re-run, but due to rising temperatures and the time required for proper preparation, a jury concluded that track conditions would not have been fair for Lochner. So the entire run was canceled instead.
Friedrich swept the two- and four-man events at worlds for the sixth time in the last seven editions. He also took gold in both events at the last two Olympics. No other driver has won more than nine world titles.
Friedrich, 34, said in 2022 that he would make the 2026 Milan Cortina Games the last competition of his career. Then he said last weekend that he'll wait to make a final decision on retirement.
In 2026, he can break the record for most Olympic bobsled gold medals (four) that he currently shares with retired countrymen Andre Lange and Kevin Kuske, plus Thorsten Margis.
Margis was in Friedrich's sleds at the last two Olympics, then switched to Lochner's team last fall (though he didn't compete this season).
Later Saturday, the 2022 Olympic champion Nolte added her first two-woman world title to her monobob crowns from 2023 and 2024.
Nolte and Deborah Levi prevailed by 52 hundredths over Kim Kalicki and Leonie Fiebig and by 1.46 seconds over Lisa Buckwitz and Kira Lipperheide. The same three German drivers swept the medals last year, with Buckwitz taking gold.
American sleds finished fourth (Kaillie Humphries and Emily Renna), fifth (Kaysha Love and Jasmine Jones) and sixth (Elana Meyers Taylor and Lolo Jones).
Humphries, a three-time Olympic gold medalist, returned to competition this season after having son Aulden on June 14.
Love, who switched from push athlete to driver after the 2022 Olympics, was the lone non-German bobsledder to take gold at these worlds, winning last weekend's monobob.
Meyers Taylor, a five-time Olympic medalist, is in her second season back since having her second son, Noah, in November 2022.
NBC Sports' Dan Meyer contributed to this report.
Topics
-
Francesco Friedrich of Germany wins 16th world bobsled championship, 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 on Saturday ...Yahoo Sports - 10h -
Francesco Friedrich of Germany wins 16th world bobsled championship, taking 4-man in Lake Placid
Francesco Friedrich won every championship he could in bobsledding this seasonABC News - 10h -
Friedrich leads 4-man world bobsled title race as weather takes its toll on Lake Placid track
Germany’s Francesco Friedrich is well on his way to another world bobsled title. The second heat of the four-heat race was canceled — after it had been run in its entirety — Friday because of ...Yahoo Sports - 1d -
Germans hold 1-2-3 spots midway through 2-man world bobsled championship, with US in medal hunt
Take the season’s biggest races in the sliding sports of bobsled, skeleton and luge, meaning either the Olympics or the world championships, and there have been 59 instances of sliders from one ...ABC News - Mar. 8 -
Revealed – Why Inter Milan Won’t Take Francesco Pio Esposito To FIFA Club World Cup Despite Big Future Plans
Inter Milan will not bring Francesco Pio Esposito to the Club World Cup as he’ll be in action at the Under-21 Euros with Italy.This according to today’s print edition of Turin-based newspaper Tutt...Yahoo Sports - 1d -
Rochester marathoner ate 'whatever he wants' and broke a Guinness world record
Slow and steady was the mantra of this Rochester athlete who held the record for most marathons finished for four years.Yahoo Sports - 2d -
Italy's Paris wins World Cup downhill to prevent Swiss sweep, Odermatt closes in on overall title
Italian veteran Dominik Paris has prevented a Swiss sweep of the podium by winning a men’s World Cup downhill raceABC News - Mar. 7 -
GB clinch bobsleigh bronze at World Championships
Great Britain secure just their second World Championships medal in four-man bobsleigh in 86 years, taking bronze in Lake Placid.Yahoo Sports - 10h -
Odermatt makes World Cup title official and clinches GS title as well
Loic Meillard led a Swiss podium sweep in a giant slalom in Norway as second-placed Marco Odermatt clinched a third straight World Cup title in the discipline and made a fourth overall crown in a ...Yahoo Sports - 12h
More from Yahoo Sports
-
Cade Cunningham ejected in bizarre tech-fest from refs in Detroit Pistons game vs. Thunder
Detroit Pistons star Cade Cunningham was ejected early in the fourth quarter of Saturday's game against the Oklahoma City Thunder at LCA.Yahoo Sports - 17m -
Chadwick basketball caps greatest stretch in school history by repeating as Class 1 champs
The greatest stretch, led by the greatest players, in Chadwick basketball history won its second straight Class 1 state championship.Yahoo Sports - 19m -
Temitope Adeshina, Tamiah Washington fuel Texas Tech women's track & field at NCAA meet
Texas Tech track and field teams finish eighth on men's side, 10th on women's at NCAA championships. Temitope Adeshina won her first individual titleYahoo Sports - 19m -
Vikings acquire RB Jordan Mason and swap picks in trade with 49ers
The 49ers send Vikings breakout running back Jordan Mason in trade that includes a pick swap and Minnesota sending an extra pick.Yahoo Sports - 22m -
Rintaro Sasaki, aka Japan's home run king, absolutely crushed his first college home run
Rainmaker: Rintaro Sasaki's completely crushes his first college home run at Stanford.Yahoo Sports - 23m
More in Sports
-
Men's Bracketology: The Mountain West will see four teams -- for now
Colorado State beat Boise State for the Mountain West title, and automatic bid. This is good news for Indiana.ESPN - 12m -
Cade Cunningham ejected in bizarre tech-fest from refs in Detroit Pistons game vs. Thunder
Detroit Pistons star Cade Cunningham was ejected early in the fourth quarter of Saturday's game against the Oklahoma City Thunder at LCA.Yahoo Sports - 17m -
Chadwick basketball caps greatest stretch in school history by repeating as Class 1 champs
The greatest stretch, led by the greatest players, in Chadwick basketball history won its second straight Class 1 state championship.Yahoo Sports - 19m -
Temitope Adeshina, Tamiah Washington fuel Texas Tech women's track & field at NCAA meet
Texas Tech track and field teams finish eighth on men's side, 10th on women's at NCAA championships. Temitope Adeshina won her first individual titleYahoo Sports - 19m -
NCAA: Duke says Flagg to be available for tourney
Duke star Cooper Flagg, who suffered an ankle injury during the ACC tournament, will be available for the NCAA tournament, according to Dan Gavitt, NCAA senior vice president of men's basketball.ESPN - 21m