Bobsleigh – Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics – Men’s 4-man Finals – Olympic Sliding Centre – Pyeongchang, South Korea – February 25, 2018 – Francesco Friedrich, Candy Bauer, Martin Grothkopp and Thorsten Margis of Germany arrive at the finish area. REUTERS/Edgar Su
February 25, 2018
By Simon Evans
PYEONGCHANG, South Korea (Reuters) – Francesco Friedrich’s four-man German bobsleigh team won gold on Sunday with their victory at the Olympic Sliding Centre completing Germany’s sweep of the bobsleigh gold medals.
The German unit, piloted by the powerfully-built multiple world champion Friedrich, finished with a combined time of three minutes, 15.85 seconds.
Despite their fourth run of 49.53 being their slowest of the four attempts as they defended their established lead, the team were still 0.53 seconds ahead of Won Yun-jong’s South Korean side, who tied with the second German team piloted by Nico Walther for the silver.
The medal is the first for South Korea in the sport.
Germany, the traditional bobsleigh powerhouse, failed to make the podium in the four-man event in Sochi four years ago.
“It was a really stressful week now it is finished and I am happy we have done it,” said Friedrich.
“The failure in Sochi motivated us all the more to win. We worked like mad, we did everything for this moment and it worked out 100 percent.”
The German pair of Friedrich and Thorsten Margis shared gold with Canada in the two-man event on Monday after a dramatic dead-heat.
With Germany’s Mariama Jamanka and Lisa Buckwitz winning the two woman race, Germany has won all three of the bobsleigh golds in Pyeongchang.
(Editing by Greg Stutchbury and Sudipto Ganguly)
