Bobsleigh – Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics – Men’s 4-man Competition – Olympic Sliding Centre – Pyeongchang, South Korea – February 24, 2018 – Francesco Friedrich, Candy Bauer, Martin Grothkopp and Thorsten Margis of Germany in action. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann
February 24, 2018
By Rory Carroll
PYEONGCHANG, South Korea (Reuters) – Francesco Friedrich piloted his four-man bobsleigh team to the top of the timesheets on Saturday with a blistering second run to give Germany a commanding lead heading into the final two runs of the competition on Sunday.
The multiple world champion, who won gold in the two-man bobsleigh on Monday, steered his sled to a 0.29 seconds lead over Won Yun-jong’s South Korean team, which enjoyed the support of a raucous hometown crowd at the Olympic Sliding Centre.
Germany’s Nico Walther finished in third, 0.35 seconds behind his countryman and a slim 0.06 seconds behind the South Koreans.
Justin Kripps, who tied with Friedrich for gold in the two-man, carried his Canadian team to fourth, 0.58 seconds off the lead, with Germany’s Johannes Lochner lurking in fifth, 0.66 seconds back.
It was a good day for Codie Bascue’s American team, who saw their sled jump from 12th to ninth position, 0.88 seconds behind Friedrich ahead of Sunday’s final.
(Reporting by Rory Carroll; editing by Sudipto Ganguly)
