Bob: Friedrich wins European Championship title – Women triumph

World champion Francesco Friedrich (Upper Bear Castle) has won the two-man bobsleigh championship for the third time and celebrated his first World Cup victory in the Olympic Winter.

The 27-year-old prevailed with Thorsten Margis at the fifth season station in Igls, Austria, and will be crowned world and European champion at the winter games in Pyeongchang (9th place). till 25. February).

“This was a very strong race with outstanding starting times,”said national coach Rene Spies on ARD television:”It is particularly important that Francesco has finally won again. After that, a lot of things come naturally. All in all, the preparation for the Olympics is going very well, we are slowly gaining momentum.”

The Swiss Clemens Bracher finished second in the European Championship classification, Johannes Lochner (Stuttgart) won the bronze medal with Joshua Bluhm. In bobsleigh, the European Championships will be held as part of a World Cup race in which the non-European starters will be removed from the result.

In the World Cup classification, only Friedrich was able to keep the strong Canadians in check. Justin Kripps and Nick Poloniato were second and third respectively. For Lochner it was enough to finish fifth. Nico Walther (Oberbärenburg) only took seventh place in the European Championship and 12th place in the World Cup with Christian Poser.

Particularly Friedrich had been the problem child of the German Bobsleigh and Sled Federation (BSD) with regard to the Olympic Games.

In the small sleigh he had dominated the past years, and last winter he also crowned himself double world champion for the first time at last winter’s World Championships. This season, however, Friedrich had to wait until shortly before the Christmas break for his first victory.

This was also due to difficulties with his new Wallner sled, which didn’t reach victory speed in the end. In Igls, however, Friedrich had two clean and fast runs, especially at the start he was outstanding with two best times.

Led by Stephanie Schneider (Upper Bear Castle), the German bobsleigh pilots celebrated a triple victory in the European Championship and confirmed their excellent form eight weeks before the Olympic Games. Schneider, Mariama Jamanka (Oberhof) and Anna Köhler (Winterberg) were the best European athletes at the fifth World Cup stage in Igls, Austria, thus ensuring a German podium.

Schneider was particularly impressed with pusher Annika Drazek, the 27-year-old left no chance for the competition from overseas and also celebrated her second World Cup victory in a row.

“We saw a great race of our women’s team,” said national coach Rene Spies:”These were strong starting performances, and what all three showed on the track was really outstanding.

In bobsleigh, the European Championships will be held as part of a World Cup race in which the non-European starters will be removed from the result. At the 15. The European Women’s Championship has now won the 14th European Women’s Championship. For the first time there had been a German, also triple victories in 2013 and 2015. The largest competitors have always come from North America.

However, Spies’ young team can also keep up with them. Only a week ago, Schneider had won the first World Cup victory for German women in Winterberg in almost three years, and now it was time for her second career success in Igls.

In the World Cup classification, Schneider was more than three tenth of a second ahead of world champion Elana Meyer’s Taylor from the USA after two runs.

With Lisa Buckwitz, Jamanka became a strong third in the World Cup standings and outperformed Olympic champion Kaillie Humphries (Canada), while Köhler and Ann-Christin Strack also finished in a very good fifth place.”The meticulousness and professionalism with which the three teams have been working together for weeks is great,” said Spies:”We are going into the Christmas break with a very, very good feeling.

For years Humphries, Meyers Taylor and Jamie Greubel Poser (USA) had dominated the women’s bobsleigh sport, with a view to the winter games in Pyeongchang (9th place). till 25. February) at least one medal for Germany is now becoming more and more realistic. Schneider, who only changed to the steering cables in 2015/2016, is developing into the spearhead. In Igls she was allowed to compete for the first time with Drazek, currently probably the world’s best pusher.